Department for Transport

A303: Dual Carriageways

Dr Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what mitigation work is planned for Chicklade as part of the plans to dual the A303 at Stonehenge.

Andrew Jones: As the Amesbury to Berwick Down (Stonehenge) scheme is in the early stage of development, it is too soon to determine the mitigation work, say due to the impact of construction traffic or increases in traffic volumes on other sections of the A303.

M61

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effects on traffic flow and congestion of the omission of the planned Junction 7 from the M61; and what representations his Department has received on how to mitigate those effects.

Andrew Jones: The most recent assessment of the M61 was undertaken by the Highways Agency between 2012 and 2015 as part of the South Pennines Route Strategy. This utilised the advice and expertise of local councils and stakeholders. The final report was published in 2015 and is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/416749/South_Pennines.pdf.It identified traffic flow and congestion issues on the M61 where it merges with the M6 to the north and also where it approaches the M60 to the south. However no particular traffic flow and congestion problems were identified between Junctions 6 and 8.Highways England will revisit the evidence for the M61 as part of preparing the next iteration of Route Strategies.

Railways: Cheshire

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many train services through Neston have been cancelled since August 2015; and what the reason was for the cancellation in each such case.

Claire Perry: This information is not held by the Department. Under the Welsh rail devolution arrangements, the Welsh Government is responsible for the day to day management of the Arriva Trains Wales franchise, including services to and from Neston.

Bus Services: Disability

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will extend free bus travel for people with disabilities to include peak hours.

Andrew Jones: The statutory minimum bus travel concession scheme applies to off-peak travel when there is likely to be unused operational capacity on buses. Concessionary bus travel applies to bus journeys made between 9.30am and 11.00pm Monday to Friday and all day at weekends and on bank holidays. These times were set out in legislation in the Transport Act 2000. Whilst I appreciate that concessionary pass holders might wish to use buses before 9.30am, in the current economic climate there are no plans to extend the statutory scheme to include peak time travel.I would point out that the statutory minimum is indeed just that – a minimum. It remains very much open to each local authority to decide whether to offer its residents local concessions over and above the statutory minimum, including peak hour concessions.

Railways: Cheshire

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to ensure a more reliable train service is provided to Neston.

Claire Perry: After the Silk Commission recommendations, further powers in Transport are to be devolved to the Welsh Government. We are currently in discussion with the Welsh Government about the future of the Wales and Borders franchise, including the cross-border services such as those serving Neston.

M20: Large Goods Vehicles

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the set of proposals sent to his Department during the summer from local authorities, industry bodies and others about a long term alternative to Operation Stack.

Andrew Jones: I am very grateful to the local authorities, industry bodies and other members of the European Gateway Strategic Delivery Group for their hard work developing the proposals which they put forward this summer. This has informed subsequent work my Department and Highways England have been doing, working closely with stakeholders, to consider in further detail options for a long term alternative to Operation Stack. This work is progressing and we will continue to take on board stakeholders’ views to broaden our engagement and fully understand their views.

Motor Vehicles: Exhaust Emissions

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 16 November 2015 to Question 16052, what steps he is taking to ensure that the two Skoda vehicles tested were representative of the affected models and manufacturers from the Volkswagen Group; and what steps were taken to validate the effectiveness of the test procedure for the wider programme.

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 16 November 2015 to Question 16052, if he will estimate the number of vehicles likely to be tested; and what criteria is being used to decide which models will be tested.

Andrew Jones: The two Skoda cars tested are part of the Vehicle Certification Agency fleet. Their engines are of the type that VW has confirmed as being equipped with software that recognises test conditions. Our testing has confirmed differences in exhaust emissions when measured using the type approval tests and with an alternative procedure. However, it cannot be guaranteed that a single alternative procedure would identify defeat strategies on other vehicles and therefore our planned programme of work will involve a number of alternative tests, including real driving, to interrogate their emission behaviour.Our programme will consider, without bias, approximately 40 vehicles that are representative of some 70 different models in the UK market. These have been selected based both upon the volume of sales over each of the last 5-years and the overall number of each model currently licensed for use on the roads of Great Britain.We have agreed with ministers in France and in Germany to exchange knowledge and understanding as our respective programmes develop. This collaboration may allow our programmes to be rationalised to avoid duplication of testing and secure best value for the taxpayer. An update on progress will be prepared early in the New Year and a full report will be issued at the conclusion of the work.

Motor Vehicles: Testing

Margaret Ferrier: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Chancellor of the Exchequer's Financial Statement of 8 July 2015, Official Report, column 327, when the consultation on extending the deadline for new cars and motorbikes to have their first MOT test from three to four years will begin; who will be invited to respond to that consultation; and when that consultation will end.

Andrew Jones: The consultation‎ is expected to be published in early 2016 and is likely to run for 12 weeks. It will be a public consultation and anyone will be able to respond. It is likely that the consultation will be brought to the attention of a number of specific groups, including motoring organisations, MOT industry groups, commercial vehicle trade associations and road safety organisations.

Bus Services: Franchises

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer to Question 15214, what assessment his Department has made of reference in the Quality Contract Scheme Board's report to bus operators being compensated by the Government for future losses that might be incurred as a result of franchising.

Andrew Jones: The Quality Contract Scheme Board’s report concerns a proposal under existing legislation. The intention is to introduce the Buses Bill later in this Parliamentary session, so proposals are still in development. We will of course consider the thoughts presented by the Quality Contract Scheme Board alongside a range of other perspectives.

Motor Vehicles: Liquefied Petroleum Gas

Rebecca Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to encourage the take-up of liquid petroleum gas conversions by taxis and vans.

Andrew Jones: The Department for Transport (DfT), working with the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, have evaluated a range of options for tackling poor air quality; this formed the basis of the Government’s draft air quality plans that recently went to public consultation. Switching to liquid petroleum gas (LPG) can provide air quality benefits but may not be easily deployed in all vehicle types.As part of DfT’s 2014 Clean Vehicle Technology Fund (CVTF) grant scheme, Birmingham City Council were awarded £500,000 to enable the conversion of 80 older black cabs from diesel to LPG which will help improve air quality on some of the most polluted roads.There may be the opportunity to support further conversions if government launches further retrofit programmes in future years.

Cardiovascular System: Aviation

Dr Tania Mathias: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the effects on the cardiovascular health of local residents of continuous noise from aircraft taking off and landing.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Government will evaluate existing evidence and future studies in the area of aircraft noise and its impacts on health including cardiovascular disease in considering future policy implications.

Motor Vehicles: Liquefied Petroleum Gas

Ben Howlett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to support the conversion of cars to run on liquefied petroleum gas.

Andrew Jones: Cars that have been constructed or modified to run on gas, including Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), benefit from a £10 reduction in tax levels for Alternative Fuel Cars under Vehicle Excise Duty. Owners of LPG cars also benefit from paying lower fuel duty on LPG than would be paid on petrol and diesel.In addition amendments made to the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) earlier this year increased the potential rewards for those supplying biopropane (Liquefied Petroleum Gas produced from a biological source) under the RTFO scheme.As part of the department’s 2014 Clean Vehicle Technology Fund (CVTF) grant scheme, Birmingham City Council were also awarded £500,000 to enable the conversion of 80 older black cabs from diesel to LPG which will help improve air quality on some of the most polluted roads.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Mrs Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the (a) salary and (b) contract length is of each member of the HS2 Independent Design Panel.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The independent Design Panel will advise and inspire HS2 Ltd to design and deliver a transformational railway for the nation.Design Panel members will only be paid for the days they work for HS2. On average, that commitment will be between 4 and 5 days per year. This would mean a salary of between £1,600 and £2,000 per year.Their contract length is two-years with the option of a one-year extension.The Design Panel Chair is on a £590 daily rate and currently works six days a month, dropping to four days a month from April 2016.

Railways: Wifi

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the requirements are for the funding and delivery of wifi on existing rail franchises.

Claire Perry: On all Department for Transport-controlled rail franchises, in England and Wales, free Wi-Fi is being introduced. All train operators bidding for new franchises and direct award agreements will have to include this specification in their bid.Where there was no new franchise agreement due by December 2016, almost £50 million of funding is being released from the Department for Transport to ensure Wi-Fi is available on selected services. The operators in this group are:Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern (TSGN);Southeastern;Chiltern; andArriva Trains Wales.

Railways: Wifi

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what requirements for wifi delivery his Department plans to put in future rail franchises; and how his Department plans to assess the quality of wifi service provided pursuant to those franchises.

Claire Perry: On all Department for Transport-controlled rail franchises, in England and Wales, free Wi-Fi is being introduced. All train operators bidding for new franchises and direct award agreements will have to present a phased implementation plan for free Wi-Fi, which will deliver Wi-Fi on the majority of all franchised train fleets by end of 2018.Train operators will be required to monitor and report on performance, availability and usage of the service.

Railways: South East

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many train services on the (a) Brighton and (b) East Grinstead line have been cancelled due to train reliability issues in each of the last six months.

Claire Perry: The operator is not required to supply this information to the Department. We have such figures at the franchise level, but not to the level of disaggregation required. Therefore we can provide the following:Cancellation due to:-15/16GTR - DriverGTR - Rolling stockGTR - OtherNetwork Rail responsibleOther TOC responsibleTrains PlannedPeriod 1 ending 2 May*941468337238530591581Period 2 ending 30 May725462333161512290926Period 3 ending 27 Jun111858225415749391445Period 4 ending 25 Jul129177537518267991867Period 5 ending 22 Aug155178740215827692103Period 6 ending 19 Sep174153548910987591303Period 7 ending 17 Oct113994439415377491338* The figure for period 1 was ‘normalised’ to a 28-day period as it was actually four days longer than usual to take into account the start of the financial year

Govia Thameslink Railway: Staff

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assurances he has received from Govia Thameslink Railway on the recruitment, training and in-service dates of train drivers.

Claire Perry: The Department is in regular dialogue with Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) and each railway period they provide a report relating to drivers which details headcount, new driver recruitment and number of drivers expected to complete their training in the future. Since the start of the year over 120 drivers have completed their training across the GTR franchise and there are currently over 200 drivers in training.

Railways: South East

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many trains on the (a) Brighton and (b) East Grinstead line have been cancelled due to a lack of driver in each of the last six months.

Claire Perry: The operator is not required to supply this information to the Department. We have such figures at the franchise level, but not to the level of disaggregation required. Therefore we can provide the following:Cancellation Due to:-15/16GTR - DriverGTR - Rolling stockGTR - OtherNetwork Rail responsibleOther TOC responsibleTrains PlannedPeriod 1 ending 2 May*941468337238530591581Period 2 ending 30 May725462333161512290926Period 3 ending 27 Jun111858225415749391445Period 4 ending 25 Jul129177537518267991867Period 5 ending 22 Aug155178740215827692103Period 6 ending 19 Sep174153548910987591303Period 7 ending 17 Oct113994439415377491338* The figure for period 1 was ‘normalised’ to a 28-day period as it was actually four days longer than usual to take into account the start of the financial year

Motor Vehicles: Excise Duties

Liz McInnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reasons the reduction in car tax for people in receipt of personal independence payments is awarded from the date of application to DVLA rather than the date of award of such payments; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones: Individuals who receive the standard rate mobility component of Personal Independence Payment are entitled to a 50% reduction in the rate of vehicle excise duty applicable to their vehicle, following a qualifying application being received by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. This application can only be made after a statement of entitlement to the qualifying benefit has been issued by the Department of Work and Pensions.

Heathrow Airport

Dr Tania Mathias: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the accuracy of the estimate of surface access costs associated with an expansion of Heathrow Airport produced by (a) the Airports Commission and (b) the Mayor of London in his response to the Airports Commission consultation, published in February 2015.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Airports Commission, in undertaking its work consulted widely, engaging with a broad range of organisations and people, and considered a wide range of views and information from stakeholders, including the Mayor of London, to inform its recommendations.The Government is currently considering the large amount of very detailed analysis contained in the Airports Commission’s final report, including its examination of the costs of the surface access proposals associated with airport expansion, before taking any decisions on next steps.

Railways: South East

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to comments made by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport at a meeting about rail services between London and the Sussex coast on 27 May 2015, whether his Department's target of six months to stability for commuters between London and the Sussex coast has been met; whether rail services between Brighton and London are still flashing red at his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry: Performance of rail services between London and the Sussex coast is being closely monitored as it has not yet reached an acceptable level. Govia Thameslink Railway and Network Rail have developed a Joint Improvement Plan to improve services. My officials and I are meeting with both companies on a regular basis in order to monitor and support improvements. Performance has stabilised through London Bridge following timetable adjustments made in the spring and the timetable to be implemented in December is expected to further improve performance.

Home Office

Home Office: EU Law

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which regulations her Department introduced as a result of EU legislation in (a) 2013, (b) 2014 and (c) 2015 to date; which regulations her Department expects to implement as a result of EU legislation in (i) 2016 and (ii) 2017; and what estimate she has made of the cost of such regulation to the (A) public purse and (B) private sector.

James Brokenshire: All regulations implementing EU legislation that have been introduced since 2013 and their associated impacts can be found at: http://www.legislation.gov.ukThe website lists all regulations and not just those implementing EU legislation. However, the Explanatory Memorandum for each regulation will state if it is implementing an EU obligation. This is available with the regulation itself on the website.The impact of future regulations that implement EU legislation will also be available on this website in due course.

Members: Correspondence

Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she intends to answer the letter of the hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, dated 28 September 2015, with regard to Mr Ammar Baadj.

James Brokenshire: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 10 November 2015.The correct answer should have been:

I apologise for the delay in responding to the letter sent by Rt. Hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton in respect of Mr Ammar Baadj. A response was sent on 310 November providing a full account of the information requested.

James Brokenshire: I apologise for the delay in responding to the letter sent by Rt. Hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton in respect of Mr Ammar Baadj. A response was sent on 310 November providing a full account of the information requested.

Electronic Surveillance

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the most recent national security direction under section 94 of the Telecommunications Act 1984 was made; and what the number of UK citizens was from whom data was collected under that direction.

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has provided the Intelligence and Security Committee with copies of any national security directions made under section 94 of the Telecommunications Act 1984.

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government has paid out any financial compensation on national security directions made under sections 94 of the Telecommunications Act 1984 in the last 30 years.

Mr John Hayes: Holding answer received on 18 November 2015



The Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament has been briefed on the use of directions under section 94 of the Telecommunications Act 1984.In accordance with section 94 subsection (6) of the Telecommunications Act 1984, money may be provided for the purpose of compensating for any losses that are sustained by reason of compliance with directions.On 13 January 2015, the Prime Minister asked the Interception of Communications Commissioner to oversee directions issued under section 94 of the Telecommunications Act. The Commissioner will report on his findings, including on the statistics and wider information that can be published about the use of the power without damage to national security, in his next report.

Interception Warrants

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many times action has been taken against a service provider for non-compliance with a warrant served under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 since 2001.

Mr John Hayes: Holding answer received on 18 November 2015



The Government works closely with communication service providers to ensure they can give effect to warrants which help our security and intelligence and law enforcement agencies to disrupt, investigate and prosecute terrorists and criminals.It would not be appropriate for the Government to comment on relationships with companies regarding interception warrants or whether specific companies had failed to give effect to an interception warrant.

Firearms: EU Action

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will raise the issue of transport of assault rifles and semi-automatic machine guns into and across the EU at the next Home Affairs European Council; and whether she has raised the issue with Europol.

James Brokenshire: It is vital that we tackle the threat from automatic and high powered semi-automatic firearms, including their movement across Europe. My Rt. Hon. Friend, the Home Secretary, attended an extraordinary meeting of the European Justice and Home Affairs Council on Friday, where she pressed for greater action on this issue. Since the terrorist attacks in Paris in January, the Home Secretary has consistently intervened at meetings of the Justice and Home Affairs Council urging EU partners to take prompt and effective action to reduce the threat from illegal firearms. My Rt. Hon. Friend, the Immigration Minister (James Brokenshire), has also highlighted the importance of action on firearms to Europol.

Schengen Agreement

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with her French counterpart on the possible introduction of fingerprinting at Schengen zone borders.

James Brokenshire: The Home Secretary and her French counterpart have had a number of discussions concerning the need to fingerprint individuals at the external border of the Schengen area as part of the strategy to manage the unprecedented flow of migrants.

Home Office: Training

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 3 November 2015 to Question 13442, what proportion of case workers in her Department received Keeping Children Safe Tier 3 training in 2014.

James Brokenshire: 1, 329 officials have received tier 3 training, which makes up 7.5% of the Borders and Immigration casework and operational roles within the Home Office.Keeping Children Safe training is available to Home Office staff at three levels depending on an individual’s specific role. Tier 3 job-specific training is delivered to a smaller proportion of specialist staff across Borders and Immigration business areas that have regular direct contact with children.

Visas: Palestinians

Stuart McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the number of Palestinians is who have applied for visit visas for the UK in each month since November 2013; and how many such applications were successful for each of those months.

James Brokenshire: Data on entry clearance visas is produced quarterly. The information is provided for Q4 2013 onwards in the attachedtable.



Entry clearance visit visas
(Excel SpreadSheet, 11.45 KB)

Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre: Self-harm

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of women detained in Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre in the last year have (a) attempted to or (b) inflicted harm upon themselves.

James Brokenshire: Published statistics for the period July 2014 to June 2015 show that 1,501 women entered Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre as the first place of detention. Provisional management information for the same time period shows that there were 54 incidents of self-harm requiring medical treatment at Yarl’s Wood that involved women.These numbers do not necessarily equate to the number of detainees requiring medical treatment. An individual may have received medical treatment on more than one occasion, therefore a maximum of 54 women could have received medical treatment for self harm, the equivalent of 3.6% of the total female population that entered Yarl’s Wood for the specified period.

Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information she holds on the likely publication date for the independent review of Yarl's Wood, commissioned by Serco.

James Brokenshire: Serco intend to publish the main findings of the report by the end of the year.

Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre: Visits

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many hon. Members have had a request to visit Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre refused in the last 12 months; and on what grounds each such refusal was justified.

James Brokenshire: One Hon. Member has had a request to visit Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre declined in the last twelve months.As set out in the Detention Centre Rules 2001, visitors to immigration removal centres may only enter with the prior authorisation of the Secretary of State other than those for purposes specified under the Rules.Requests to visit centres must be carefully considered and planned to preserve the privacy and dignity of the individuals who are detained.

Terrorism: West Midlands

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the number of (a) arrests for and (b) successful prosecutions of individuals charged with counter-terrorism offences in (i) Coventry and (ii) the West Midlands in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Mr John Hayes: The Home Office releases a quarterly statistics bulletin on the operation of police powers under the Terrorism Act 2000. It contains information on the numbers of arrests, charges and convictions for terrorism-related offences. The latest bulletin was released in September 2015 and can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/operation-of-police-powers-under-the-terrorism-act-2000-financial-year-ending-march-2015The data is not broken down by geographic location. To do so could give an indication of the deployment of police resources and might prejudice ongoing operations.

Homelessness: Repatriation

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people from (a) EU and (b) non-EU countries who have been classified as homeless have been returned to their home countries in each year since 2010.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 20 November 2015



The Home Office does not record information in relation to homelessness. We do encounter rough sleepers during enforcement operations and, depending on the individual circumstances, non-UK rough sleepers can be removed or deported. In these situations, the Immigration Enforcement teams will ensure that vulnerable individuals are also connected to support services in their home countries.For vulnerable individuals who are sleeping rough on the streets, there are locally funded reconnection services they can approach voluntarily to help them return to their home countries voluntarily and connect into support services there. We do not hold data on those who are returned using this service.Therefore, any information we hold does not provide a complete and accurate picture of those who have returned home.

Counter-terrorism: West Midlands

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will review the number of counter-terrorism officials in the West Midlands; and if she will make a statement.

Mr John Hayes: Holding answer received on 20 November 2015



The level and distribution of counter-terrorism resources across the country is informed by advice from the police and security and intelligence agencies on assessments of what is needed to counter the threat. This is regularly kept under review. For security reasons we do not publish a breakdown of counter-terrorism resources by region.In the Spending Round 2013, specific funding for counter-terrorism policing was protected at £564.3 million for each of the years 2014-15 and 2015-16. We are also providing an additional £14.9 million in 2015-16 to the police to strengthen capabilities in response to the increased threat from terrorism.In the Summer Budget on 8 July, we committed to protecting overall counter-terrorism spending across the course of the next Spending Review Period. On 16 November we said we would go further. Through the Strategic Defence and Security Review, we will make new funding available for the security and intelligence agencies to provide for an additional 1,900 officers – an increase of 15% - to better respond to the threat we face from international terrorism, cyber-attacks and other global risks.

Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre: Legal Representation

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many women held in Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre have legal representation.

James Brokenshire: All detainees at immigration removal centres are able to access legal advice through a duty solicitor scheme provided by the Legal Aid Agency.Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons (HMCIP) inspected Yarl’s Wood between 13 April and 1 May 2015 and reported that waiting times for duty advice surgeries were short.

Asylum: Africa

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of victims of human trafficking from (a) Benin, (b) Nigeria, (c) Uganda and (d) Zimbabwe who applied for asylum were successful in their application between 2010 and 2015.

James Brokenshire: In total 420 individuals of the listed nationalities were confirmed as victims of trafficking between 2010 and 2015 of which 338 had an associated asylum claim split as follows: a) Benin [1], b) Nigeria [264], c) Uganda [62] and d) Zimbabwe [11]. The proportion of successful asylum claims for those cases where a decision had been made were: a) Benin [0% (0)], b) Nigeria [74% (156)], c) Uganda [85% (46)] and d) Zimbabwe [88% (7)]

Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre: Human Trafficking

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many detainees held in Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre (a) claim that they are victims of human trafficking and (b) have been identified by the National Referral Mechanism as victims of human trafficking.

James Brokenshire: Individuals who have been identified as victims of trafficking by the competent authorities are normally considered suitable for detention in only very exceptional circumstances, which include cases where there is a risk of public harm. This data is not collected centrally and accurate figures are not available. Once a person is detained their continued detention remains under review by the Home Office at least at monthly intervals, and earlier in response to any change of circumstances that might have a material effect on their detention.

Immigrants: Detainees

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of people held in immigration detention are (a) foreign national offenders convicted of immigration related offences, (b) foreign national offenders convicted of other offences and (c) non-foreign nationals.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 20 November 2015



At the end of June 2015, the proportion of people held in immigration detention who were foreign national offenders was 25% (884).It is not possible to provide a break-down of foreign national offenders convicted of immigration offences and foreign national offenders convicted of non-immigration offences. Such data is not aggregated in national reporting systems, which would mean these questions could only be answered through a disproportionately expensive manual case search to collate the data.

Visas: Fees and Charges

Michelle  Thomson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the average amount people spent on visa applications before being granted entry to the UK in the last year for which figures are available.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 20 November 2015



The Home Office does not analyse the average amount people spend on visa applications before being granted entry to the UK. The Home Office provides a wide range of visa products and services and takes into account a range of factors when setting fees, so there is no typical fee amount.

Visas: Fees and Charges

Michelle  Thomson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason her Department no longer publishes accounts of the revenue stream from visa services previously published by the UK Border Agency.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 20 November 2015



This information is published in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts 2014-15, a copy of which is available in the Vote Office.Table 6.2 sets out an analysis of income from services provided to external and public sector customers.

National Association of Retired Police Officers

Mr Douglas Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will hold discussions with the National Association of Retired Police Officers on steps to support national security.

Mike Penning: Home Office Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of partners, as well as organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors, as part of the process of policy development and delivery.Policy engagement with external organisations is a matter for Chief Constables to take locally in conjunction with their democratically elected Police and Crime Commissioners.

Refugees: Syria

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her policy is on accepting asylum claims from (a) Syrian refugees who have reached the UK travelling through other EU member states without claiming asylum in one of those states and (b) such refugees who reside with family members who have a right to reside in the UK.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 23 November 2015



Asylum seekers should not travel through safe countries illegally and then choose where to claim asylum.If we have evidence that a Syrian asylum seeker is the responsibility of another European country we can and will seek to return them there under the Dublin Regulation. Similarly, if we have evidence that the person claiming asylum in the UK has already been granted international protection by another European country we will also seek to remove them to the country that granted protection. When making a decision on whether to remove refugees under the Dublin Regulation full consideration is given to the right to family and private life under Article 8 of the ECHR.The Dublin Regulation does contain family unity provisions which may result in the responsible State being that where an asylum seeker’s close family members are legally present. The asylum seeker would, however, in the first instance need to make an asylum application in the country that they are in, in order for the provision to be considered.

Asylum

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 17 November 2015 to Question 15325, how any of those asylum claims resulted in a positive asylum decision.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 23 November 2015



Of those claims which have received a decision, 486 received a positive outcome.

Police and Crime Commissioners: West Midlands

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the process will be for the cancellation of the Police and Crime Commissioner elections due to take place in May 2016 for areas now to form part of the West Midlands Combined Authority.

Mike Penning: The West Midlands devolution agreement, published on 17 November 2015, stated that: ‘Proposals for an appropriate relationship between the functions of a Mayor and future role of the Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs), including in relation to fire services, to be developed, subject to local consent and a business case developed jointly by the PCC and council leaders, and in consultation with the Fire and Rescue Authorities.’At this stage, there has been no decision to transfer PCC functions to an elected Mayor for the West Midlands and there are no plans to cancel the 2016 PCC election in the West Midlands.

Human Rights

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to amend the Act which results from the Investigative Powers Bill in the event of repeal of the Human Rights Act 1998.

Mr John Hayes: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Abortion

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will issue a response to Early Day Motion (a) 162, Closures of abortion clinics and (b) 172, Buffer zones around abortion centres.

Mike Penning: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to 5385 on 13 July 2015.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Saudi Arabia: Islamic State

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Saudi Arabian counterpart on (a) support given by nationals of Saudi Arabia to ISIS and (b) ways to stop such assistance.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Saudi Arabia has suffered first hand with a series of attacks on mosques by ISIL in recent months. Saudi Arabia has also been at the forefront of international efforts to defeat ISIL. Saudi Arabia was one of the first countries to participate in air strikes against ISIL in Syria, and the King and religious establishment continue to publicly condemn ISIL, and to emphasise that ISIL do not in any way represent the teachings of Islamic faith.The Saudi Arabian Government is working to reduce the threat that religious extremists pose in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere, and has a comprehensive set of laws in place to prevent terrorist financing, which it enforces vigorously. The Foreign Secretary discussed UK--Saudi cooperation in tackling ISIL during his visit to the Kingdom on 28 October.

Western Sahara: Human Rights

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 13 November 2015 to Question 15120, on Western Sahara: human rights, whether he discussed reports of intimidation, harassment and kidnapping of human rights defenders in the Occupied Territories of Western Sahara during the visit of King Mohamed VI.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: I discussed Western Sahara during my visit to Morocco on 11-12 November. We will continue to raise with the Moroccan authorities allegations of human rights abuses in the territory which are brought to our attention.

Burma: Elections

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the conduct of the recent elections in Burma.

Mr Hugo Swire: I refer the hon. Member to my Written Ministerial Statement titled, Update on Elections in Burma, of 20 November.

Sri Lanka: Political Prisoners

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations the British High Commission in Colombo has received from (a) the Tamil National Alliance and (b) Tamil civil society groups on the treatment of Tamil political prisoners in Sri Lanka.

Mr Hugo Swire: Officials from the British High Commission regularly meet with political and civil society groups, including the Tamil National Alliance, to discuss political issues in Sri Lanka. We will continue to monitor the situation of detainees held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act closely and to raise issues of ongoing concern with the Sri Lankan government.

Sri Lanka: Terrorism

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Sri Lankan counterpart on the application of the Prevention of Terrorism Act 1978 in Sri Lanka.

Mr Hugo Swire: We regularly raise matters of concern with the Sri Lankan government, including the Prevention of Terrorism Act and the detention of prisoners without trial. I met Sri Lankan Foreign Minister, the Honourable Mangala Samaraweera MP, on 14 September in Geneva. I was encouraged by our discussion and by his speech to the UN Human Rights Council. Amongst other commitments, he told members of the UN Human Rights Council that the Sri Lankan government would review and repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act and replace it with anti-terrorism legislation in line with contemporary international best practices. We will continue to monitor closely the situation of detainees held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, and to raise issues of ongoing concern with the Sri Lankan government.

Sri Lanka: Political Prisoners

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of reports that Tamil political prisoners have been on hunger strike in Sri Lanka; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Hugo Swire: We noted that on 17 November the hunger strike by Tamil detainees was temporarily suspended until 15 December. We regularly raise matters of concern with the Sri Lankan government, including the detention of prisoners without trial. Our policy is unchanged and we remain committed to working closely with the Sri Lankan government and international partners to support the implementation of the commitments made by Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council in September, and in the UN Human Rights Council resolution of 1 October.

Sri Lanka: Political Prisoners

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Sri Lankan counterpart on the detention of Tamil political prisoners in Sri Lanka.

Mr Hugo Swire: We regularly raise matters of concern with the Sri Lankan government, including the Prevention of Terrorism Act and the detention of Tamil political prisoners without trial. I met Sri Lankan Foreign Minister, the Honourable Mangala Samaraweera MP, on 14 September in Geneva. I was encouraged by our discussion and by his speech to the UN Human Rights Council. He told members of the UN Human Rights Council that the Sri Lankan government would review and repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act and replace it with anti-terrorism legislation in line with contemporary international best practices. I have also been encouraged by the recent announcements that bail has been granted to 39 prisoners being held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.

Sri Lanka: Human Rights

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) human rights situation in Sri Lanka and (b) detention of Tamil political prisoners in that country.

Mr Hugo Swire: We warmly welcomed the resolution on promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights which was co-sponsored by Sri Lanka and adopted by the UN Human Rights Council on 1 October. Since President Sirisena came to power in January, there have been improvements in the human rights situation in Sri Lanka, including on freedom of expression, some return of military held land, and improved relations between different communities. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office will provide a further assessment in our 2015 Annual Human Rights and Democracy Report. We regularly raise matters of concern with the Sri Lankan government, including the detention of Tamil political prisoners without trial. We have been encouraged by the recent announcements that bail has been granted to 39 prisoners being held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.

India: Religious Freedom

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Indian counterpart on the treatment of Muslims and Christians in India.

Mr Hugo Swire: I discussed religious minority rights in India with the Indian Minister of State for External Affairs, V K Singh, on 5 November. The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) also discussed this issue with Prime Minister Modi during his visit to the UK on 12-14 November. Mr Modi assured him that his government remained committed to diversity, and to protecting the fundamental freedoms of all India’s citizens. During their joint press conference, Prime Minister Modi was clear that he upheld the Gandhian traditions of diversity and that he would not accept any signs of intolerance.

Burma: Election Observers

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the contribution of the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the hon. Member for East Devon, of 22 October 2015, Official Report, column 1264, what training was provided to the election observers supported by Government funding referred to in that contribution.

Mr Hugo Swire: The United Kingdom funded the National Democratic Institute (NDI) in training and deploying some 5000 Burmese civil society observers throughout the country. These national observers were trained to evaluate the quality of the electoral process at polling stations and to rapidly report incidents on the day. The presence of national and international observers was a key part of the United Kingdom’s strategy for deterring fraud in Burma’s elections on 8 November.

Overseas Companies: Natural Resources

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 22 June 2015 to Question HL381, what steps he has taken following allegations of breaches of bribery and corruption laws by Soco International in Virunga National Park; what guidance his Department provides on the exploration of natural resources by UK listed companies operating in national parks and UNESCO wold heritage sites; and if he will make a statement.

James Duddridge: We are aware of allegations of breaches of bribery and corruption laws made against Soco International in relation to its activities in the Virunga National Park, and have ensured that the relevant law enforcement agencies both here and in the Democratic Republic of Congo are aware of the allegations.Foreign investment in sectors such as hydrocarbons and the extractive industries can play a vital role in boosting the development of countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, helping lift people out of poverty. Such investment must be conducted responsibly and sustainably, in compliance with local law and conforming to international standards. The government encourage all British companies to uphold the highest of standards, but where they do not it is important that allegations of wrongdoing are investigated and perpetrators are held to account. Anyone with evidence of serious fraud, bribery or corruption should pass this to the Serious Fraud Office.The government also encourages UK companies to observe the international standards for responsible conduct of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, and provides a National Contact Point for the Guidelines complaint process. It was under the UK National Contact Point process that World Wildlife Fund and SOCO reached their 2014 agreement for SOCO to end its operations in Virunga.

Yemen: Saudi Arabia

Stephen Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the Government of Saudi Arabia on the ending the restrictions on imports of fuel, food and medical supplies to Yemen.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: During a visit to Saudi Arabia on 28 October, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) met his counterpart, Minister Al Jubeir. They discussed humanitarian issues, including humanitarian access to Yemeni ports, as well as the need for accelerating the political process in Yemen. We welcome the Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister’s and President Hadi’s statements that all of Yemen’s ports are open and the initial indications of progress on maritime access, but more needs to be done.To have real impact, commercial and humanitarian access must be sustained and systematic. The UN verification and Inspection Mechanism (UNVIM) is the best way to ensure this. We are working closely with the UN to establish it as soon as possible. The Secretary of State for International Development, my right hon. Friend the Member for Putney (Justine Greening) has also expressed the UK’s readiness to support to the UNVIM and DfID has just committed £1.4 million to the UN to support its establishment.

Yemen: International Law

Stephen Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to support the establishment of an independent international body to investigate violations of international law in Yemen.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We remain deeply concerned about the human rights situation and alleged violations of International Humanitarian Law in Yemen. The UK fully and actively supports the UN’s efforts to achieve a political solution to bring an end to the conflict. This will help create the conditions for the legitimate Government to improve its capacity to protect human rights. The UK has previously engaged the Yemeni Government - both bilaterally and through the UN Human Rights Council - on a wide range of human rights issues. We continue to raise the importance of compliance international human rights law with all sides to the conflict.We welcome the September UN Human Rights Council resolution which contains mechanisms for monitoring the human rights situation in Yemen. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has been tasked to help Yemen investigate human rights abuses and violations, but it will be up to Yemen to decide on how it sets up its own domestic mechanism. We welcome Yemen's commitment to cooperate with the UN on protection of human rights.

Ilois: Resettlement

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when his Department plans to make an announcement regarding resettlement of the British Indian Ocean Territory by Chagos islanders.

James Duddridge: A twelve week public consultation ended on 27 October. Nearly 850 written responses were received from as far afield as Tanzania, Switzerland, Thailand, France, and of course the main Chagossian communities in the UK, Mauritius and Seychelles. Officials are continuing their analysis of these, and the results of meetings held with Chagossians in their own communities, to allow a decision on a way ahead soon.

Darfur: Rape

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the report by Waging Peace on the use of rape as a weapon of war in the conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan.

James Duddridge: We remain acutely concerned by the use of sexual violence in Darfur as set out in this and other reports. It reinforces our policy approach of strong support for the presence of the African Union/United Nations Hybrid Mission operation in Darfur(UNAMID) and the need for the mission to have a strong mandate centred around protection of civilians. As a result, the UK led this year’s renewal of the operation's Mandate to ensure it continues to operate across all the Darfuri states. We will continue to work with the mission, press for robust patrolling and encourage it to engage at the community level. We will also continue to urge the Government of Sudan to cooperate with the operation, and have consistently made clear to them that conditions on the ground must considerably improve before any moves towards the mission’s eventual exit can be made.At the same time, we continue – both bilaterally and through the UN’s Security and Human Rights Councils - to call on all armed actors to address sexual and gender-based violence in Darfur. The UK played a significant role in the adoption of Security Council Resolution 2242 reflecting the importance of Women, Peace and Security-related issues for the UN family. Bilaterally, we have provided support to over 150 survivors of rape in Darfur and contributed to the successful prosecution of members of the police and armed forces. We will remain active on these issues.

British Overseas Territories: Environment Protection

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent progress has been made on establishing marine protection zones in British Overseas Territories; and whether each such zone will require the consent of that Territory's national assembly prior to its creation.

James Duddridge: Overseas Territory Governments are constitutionally responsible for the management of their marine resources, therefore any additional marine protection will have to be agreed, and implemented, by the Territory. In addition to the existing Marine Protected Area designations around South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands, the British Indian Ocean Territory and the British Antarctic Territory, we intend to designate the world’s largest contiguous no-take marine protection area around Pitcairn, and are working with Ascension Island to close at least 50 percent of their waters to fishing activities. For other Territories we are at an early stage of scoping whether further marine protection measures are desirable and scientifically justified.

Burma: Rohingya

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what his policy is on the establishment of a UN Commission of Inquiry into human rights violations against Rohingya people in Burma.

Mr Hugo Swire: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 12 November 2015 (PQ14884), which can be located at: http://www.parliament.uk/writtenanswers/.

Hong Kong: Missing Persons

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with the Chinese government on the reported disappearance of Gui Haiming and other employees of Sage Communications in Hong Kong.

Mr Hugo Swire: We are following this issue closely along with EU partners. The UK takes seriously any threats to press freedom. We monitor this constantly including through the Foreign Secretary’s Six-Monthly Reports to Parliament. We have welcomed previous statements that the Hong Kong SAR Government remains committed to protecting the freedom of the press. We hope they and the Chinese authorities will also continue to make every effort to ensure that the environment in which the media, and publishers operate in the Hong Kong SAR is conducive to full and frank reporting.

British Overseas Territories: Companies

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the governments of British Overseas Territories with financial centres on central registers of beneficial ownership.

James Duddridge: I discussed central registers of beneficial ownership with the Premiers of the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands and Bermuda on 23 November and will have a further opportunity to do so when they are in London next week for the Joint Ministerial Council.

Climate Change

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many full-time equivalent staff in his Department are engaged on work related to climate change in (a) posts around the world and (b) London.

James Duddridge: a) As of 1 August 2015 (last available figures for overseas posts) 85.5 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff resource was spent on climate change/low carbon economy/energy security issues in 16 priority posts overseas supported by an additional 17 FTE staff in seven other G7 and multilateral posts. b) As at 20 November 2015 16 FTE staff in London work directly on climate change issues.

Palestinians: Detainees

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations his Department has made to the Israeli government on the Children in Military Custody report, funded by his Department, which was published in June 2012.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv have held roundtable meetings with Israeli officials to discuss the Children in Military Custody report, most recently on 19 May. Since the publication of the report, there has been some progress on the issue of children held in military detention. This includes piloting of sending summons instead of carrying out night-time arrests, changes to standard operating procedures on methods of restraint, and steps to reduce the amount of time a child can be detained before seeing a judge. There has also been a reduction in the use of solitary confinement and an increase in the use of Arabic to give notifications of arrest. Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv continue to push for further progress with Israeli officials. On 27 August, our Ambassador to Tel Aviv lobbied the Israeli Military Advocate General on Children in Detention where the issue of child detention was discussed.

France: Terrorism

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his French counterpart on the ISIL attacks in Paris and the implications of those attacks for the Government's foreign policy.

Mr David Lidington: The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) met his French counter-part Laurent Fabius in Vienna the day after the cowardly terrorist attacks and offered hiscondolences to the French people. The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the member for Witney (Mr Cameron) met President Hollande yesterday to discuss how we can strengthen the counter-terrorism co-operation between our two countries and work together to defeat ISIL.

Yemen: International Law

Callum McCaig: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he plans to take to ensure that potential breaches of international humanitarian law by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen are investigated.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We have raised concerns with the Saudi Government on alleged breaches of international humanitarian law and have received repeated assurances of compliance. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) discussed this with the Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister during his visit to Riyadh on 28 October, and most recently in Vienna on 14 November.

Mediterranean Sea: Refugees

Wendy Morton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in the EU, Africa and the Middle East on diplomatic steps to tackle the refugee crisis in the Mediterranean.

Mr David Lidington: Ministers discuss the current migration crisis with EU counterparts and those from other affected regions on a regular basis. Last night, The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) met with African and EU representatives as part of a British Chairmanship of the Khartoum Process.The UK is playing a leading role in taking forward joint efforts.For example, countering people smuggling will be a priority for the UK in its engagement with a new Libyan Government resulting from the UN-led process.The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron)announced in Valletta £200 million of new UK money for projects in Africa to address the root causes of migration. 31 European nations and 36 African nations attended the Valletta Summit on Migration earlier this month.

EU Reform

Rebecca Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the progress of negotiations to reform the EU and the UK's relationship with the EU.

Mr David Lidington: The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) has set out substantial reforms in four key areas to fix the problems in the UK's relationship with the EU. Technical talks have been ongoing since July. The Prime Minister updated leaders at the October European Council and wrote to President Tusk on 10 November. Leaders will return to the issue at the December European Council.

Somalia: Peace Negotiations

Chris Heaton-Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent diplomatic steps he has taken to promote peace in Somalia.

James Duddridge: Earlier this month, my Rt Hon Friend the Foreign Secretary chaired a UN Security Council meeting to rally international support on Somalia. This included adoption of the UK drafted resolution to strengthen the UN’s logistical support to AMISOM and the need for progress on an electoral process in 2016.

Cabinet Office

Living Wage: Young People

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many young people earn below the living wage.

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many young people in full-time employment earn below the living wage.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Letter to Member - Living Wage
(PDF Document, 232.68 KB)

Attorney General

Minimum Wage: Prosecutions

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney General, how many employers were (a) charged with and (b) convicted of a criminal offence by the Crown Prosecution Service for non-compliance with minimum wage legislation in each of the last five years.

Robert Buckland: Data held centrally by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), together with information provided by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), which has responsibility for enforcing the law in relation to the National Minimum Wage (NMW), shows that in the financial year 2010 – 2011, no employers were charged with a criminal offence for non-compliance with minimum wage legislation but one employer was convicted from an earlier charge. One charge was made in the financial year 2011 – 2012 and one conviction was made in 2012 – 2013. No cases were charged or convicted in 2013 – 2014 and one case was charged in 2014 – 2015.The majority of employers identified as paying below the National Minimum Wage pay arrears on receipt of a formal Notice of Underpayment. Where they do not do so, HMRC pursues recovery through the civil courts. For deliberate non-compliance or obstructive behaviour HMRC operates a policy of selective and exemplary criminal investigation action as part of a wider enforcement strategy.

Minimum Wage: Prosecutions

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney General, how many Crown Prosecution Service staff worked on (a) referrals for suspected non-compliance with minimum wage legislation and (b) prosecutions for non-compliance with minimum wage legislation in each of the last five years.

Robert Buckland: All cases referred to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) for the purposes of considering a prosecution for an offence contrary to national minimum wage legislation, are dealt with by the Specialist Fraud Division. The number of people dealing with such cases at any given time depends on the number of cases received and how they are allocated.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Further Education: Finance

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing three-year funding plans for further education colleges.

Nick Boles: Any changes to funding of colleges will need to be seen in the wider context of other reforms. Fixing the foundations: creating a more prosperous nation set out our plans to increase local influence over further education (FE) and skill funding. We shall announce further reform to FE and skills funding systems following the spending review.

Sahaviriya Steel Industries UK: Redcar

Anna Turley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department made of the financial viability of the Redcar coke ovens and blast furnace as a standalone operation without South Bank coke ovens.

Anna Soubry: We have made no such assessment. On liquidation of a company, it is the responsibility of the liquidator to sell the free assets of the company. In the case of SSI UK, this was the Official Receiver who is independent. I am informed that the Official Receiver did maintain operations at SSI, including the coke ovens, for a period while he tried to find purchasers for the assets of SSI UK but as of the 12 October, no purchaser had been found and the Official Receiver ceased operations of the coke ovens and blast furnace.

Further Education: Finance

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what impact assessment his Department has conducted on withdrawal of ESOL Plus Mandation funding and its effects on further education colleges in (a) Greater London and (b) the UK.

Nick Boles: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) conducted an equality analysis to support its compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty prior to making the decision to withdraw the English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Plus (Mandation) funding for 2015/16. The decision was taken in the knowledge that providers are independent organisations which manage their own budgets and have the flexibility to use their adult skills budget to continue to provide ESOL training for jobseekers and are therefore able to mitigate any adverse impact. It was also taken on the basis of our data which shows that the numbers of learners in England being referred to ESOL Plus (Mandation) provision was significantly lower than originally anticipated and the ESOL Plus (Mandation) budget was underspent in 2014/15.BIS funds skills provision in England only.

Disabled Students' Allowances: Dyslexia

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the number of dyslexic students who will receive disabled students' allowances in each of the next five years.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of recipients of disabled students' allowances had dyslexia in each of the last five years.

Joseph Johnson: The Student Loans Company (SLC) administers student support for each of the UK Government Administrations. The number and proportion of new applicants deemed by SLC to be eligible for Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSA) is set out in the attached table.The earliest academic year for which the data is available is 2011/12.The Department does not provide forecasts of the number of students with specific disabilities expected to receive Disabled Students’ Allowances.



Disabled Students’ Allowances Application Data
(PDF Document, 171.92 KB)

Apprentices: Dyslexia

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what guidance his Department gives to apprenticeship providers on supporting apprentices with dyslexia.

Nick Boles: Apprenticeships are covered by the Equality Act 2010, therefore employers and providers are required to make reasonable adjustments. Assessment centres (for example colleges) are responsible for ensuring that they understand and apply access arrangements.Ofqual provides guidance for awarding organisations in England on reasonable adjustment. The Joint Council of Qualifications publishes arrangements annually on special considerations and adjustments. The current version has a number of examples of how to apply arrangements to learners with dyslexia.The Education and Training Foundation provides guidance for training providers, including advice on supporting apprentices with dyslexia. This can be found in the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) section of the Excellence Gateway on the Education and Training Foundation website http://send.excellencegateway.org.uk/.

Apprentices: Video Games

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if his Department will fund the NextGen Skills Academy higher apprenticeships in order better to support games employers.

Nick Boles: We are introducing a UK-wide levy for all larger employers to help fund the increase in quantity and quality of apprenticeship training in England. The levy will put employers in charge of how and where apprenticeship budgets are spent by creating a fund which they can use to pay for external training for their apprentices.As part of the apprenticeship reforms, employer-led Trailblazers are designing new apprenticeships to meet their skills needs. Over 1300 employers - including in the Digital Industries and Visual Effects sectors, such as Framestore - are currently involved in designing new apprenticeship standards. These include apprenticeships in occupations at a range of levels such as Digital & Technology Solutions Professional (L6); Software Developer (L4); Junior 2D Artist (Visual Effects) (L4); Games Quality Assurance Technician (L4) and Assistant Technical Director (Visual Effects) (L4).The NextGen Skills Academy links to Amersham and Wycombe College and was awarded £2.7m of Employer Ownership Pilot funding for a 3 year project focusing on the VFX, animation and games industry in September 2014. The project is now led by Framestore and managed by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills.

Adult Education

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of adult education courses in helping people into work.

Nick Boles: The Department commissioned econometric research to estimate the labour market impact of Further Education (FE), which found that FE generates significant economic effects, resulting in sustained higher earnings and increased employment chances. This report was published in December 2014 and is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/further-education-comparing-labour-market-economic-benefits-from-qualifications-gained

Refugees: English Language

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department has taken to give refugees settled in the UK opportunities to improve their English language skills.

Nick Boles: Adults who are granted refugee status or humanitarian protection become eligible for skills funding through a provider’s adult skills budget, as any other English resident and are not subject to the normal 3 year qualifying period. Refugees are therefore eligible for full-funding for English Speakers of Other Languages, if they are in receipt of certain work-related benefits and are mandated to undertake skills training to improve their English in order to find work. If they are on other state benefits and are unemployed, they may still be eligible for full funding at the discretion of the training provider. If they are not on benefits, they can be co-funded at the discretion of the provider.

English Language: Education

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect on community cohesion of the withdrawal of ESOL Plus Mandation funding.

Nick Boles: We have not carried out a specific assessment in relation to community cohesion. The decision to withdraw the 2015/16 English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Plus (Mandation) funding was taken in the knowledge that providers could use their adult skills budget to continue to provide ESOL training for jobseekers and therefore mitigate any adverse impact. Our data showed that the numbers of claimants being referred to ESOL Plus (Mandation) provision was significantly lower than originally anticipated.

English Language: Education

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect of the withdrawal of ESOL Plus Mandation funding on attainment levels of children whose parents participated in or were eligible for ESOL courses.

Nick Boles: Although there is a correlation between parental education levels and the attainment of children, many other factors are also relevant. Isolating the specific impact of this particular funding on children’s levels of attainment would be extremely difficult.The decision to withdraw the 2015/16 English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Plus (Mandation) funding was taken in the knowledge that providers could use their adult skills budget to continue to provide ESOL training for jobseekers and therefore mitigate any adverse impact. Our data showed that the numbers of claimants being referred to ESOL Plus (Mandation) provision was significantly lower than originally anticipated.

English Language: Education

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that the skills of ESOL tutors are not lost following the withdrawal of ESOL Plus Mandation funding.

Nick Boles: The decision to withdraw the 2015/16 English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Plus (Mandation) funding was taken in the knowledge that providers could use their adult skills budget to continue to maintain their ESOL courses and therefore mitigate any adverse impact. It is the responsibility of providers to ensure they have teaching staff with the right skills and expertise to deliver the range of courses they offer.

English Language: Education

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent representations he has received on the Action for ESOL Manifestos.

Nick Boles: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has not received any representations on the Action for ESOL Manifesto.

Migrant Workers: English Language

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assistance his Department is providing to help businesses to employ migrants with in-demand skills but poor English language skills.

Nick Boles: In our approach to skills, we aim to create a fair balance between the investment made by Government, the employer and the individual. We believe that non-native speakers of English, who choose to live in the UK, should be expected to invest in the improvement of their English, with some exceptions. Similarly, where employers seek to rely on non-English speaking labour, it is their responsibility to cover the cost of training employees.

Refugees: English Language

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect of withdrawal of ESOL Plus mandated funding on the ability of refugees in the UK to access ESOL courses.

Nick Boles: The decision to withdraw the 2015/16 ESOL Plus (Mandation) funding was taken in the knowledge that providers could use their adult skills budget to continue to provide ESOL training for jobseekers and therefore mitigate any adverse impact. Our data showed that the numbers of claimants being referred to ESOL Plus (Mandation) provision was significantly lower than originally anticipated.Adults who are granted refugee status or humanitarian protection become eligible for skills funding through the adult skills budget, as any other English resident and are not subject to the normal 3 year qualifying period.

Funerals

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing statutory regulations of the funeral industry.

Nick Boles: The Department has not made an assessment regarding this issue.

Students: Loans

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to promote the availability of loans to part-time students.

Joseph Johnson: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has developed marketing materials and information aimed at part time students and these are made available online and through schools and further education colleges as part of the annual Student Finance Tour. Since the new non-means tested part time fee loans were introduced in 2012 the number of students taking out loans has risen from 34,000 in 2012/13 to 55,000 in 2013/14.

Students: Loans

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had with the higher education sector on extending the loan book to part-time students who wish to undertake a second degree.

Joseph Johnson: We have extended fee loans for those already holding a degree to students wishing to retrain in engineering, technology and computer science. We continue to examine what more we can do to support part-time including the availability of additional fee loans and are engaging actively with the sector on these issues.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: High Speed 2 Railway Line

Mrs Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many officials in his Department are working on matters relating to High Speed 2; and what the grades of those officials are.

Nick Boles: The Department for Transport (DfT) leads on HS2 policy and delivery. Within the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), various officials at different grades have an interest in HS2 from the point of view of the Growth opportunities that arise from the investment.BIS interests include the potential for rail engineering supply chain development, innovation and technology transfer and growth opportunities arising from the investment along the HS2 route. This will also be a shop window for new technologies that can then drive export growth. HS2 and the National High Speed Rail College will also drive the uptake of apprenticeships and raise engineering skills levels, so Officials in those areas have an interest in HS2. All of these matters also feature in the work of the Rail Supply Group, the rail engineering industry council, which is jointly supported by DfT and BIS officials.

Apprentices: Management

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to paragraph 13.17 of HM Treasury's publication entitled, Fixing the Foundations: Creating a more prosperous nation, Cm 9098, published in July 2015, what progress his Department has made on plans to introduce a degree apprenticeship in Leadership and Management to boost the capabilities of future business leaders.

Nick Boles: The Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship was launched on 11 November 2015.This degree apprenticeship was developed by employers and universities collaborating to bring together world-class business education, on-the-job training and professional development to chartered status, tailored to the needs of business.By uniting the very best of higher education with an apprenticeship, we are transforming routes into top management careers.

Further Education

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer to Question 13261, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of conducting an area-based review of post-16 education and training institutions in (a) Tees Valley, (b) Birmingham and Solihull, (c) Greater Manchester, (d) Sheffield City Region, (e) Sussex Coast, (f) Solent and (g) West Yorkshire.

Nick Boles: The area reviews are aimed at delivering a skills system that meets the economic and educational needs of areas whilst also ensuring the long term sustainability of colleges to support productivity.

Apprentices: Management

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what progress the Government has made on its proposed plans to introduce a degree apprenticeship in Leadership and Management as announced in Fixing the Foundations: Creating a more Prosperous Nation, Cm 9098, published in July 2015.

Nick Boles: I refer the hon Member to the answer I gave to the hon Member for Salford and Eccles (Rebecca Long Bailey) to question UIN 16937.

Department for International Development

Developing Countries: LGBT People

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department is planning to publish an LGBT Theory of Change.

Grant Shapps: A document describing “DFID’s approach to LGBT rights” will be published on UK Government website by the end of 2015. A theory of change will be available with this.

Developing Countries: Nutrition

Sir William Cash: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether (a) she or (b) another Minister from her Department plans to attend the Nutrition for Growth Summit schedules to take place during the Rio Summer Olympics.

Grant Shapps: We have yet to receive a formal invitation to the Nutrition for Growth Summit from the Government of Brazil. Once an invitation is received a decision will be taken on ministerial attendance.DFID are working closely with the Brazilian government to support them in their preparations for the summit.

Department for Education

Education: Coastal Areas

Caroline Ansell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to address the relative low educational attainment in coastal communities; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: This government is committed to achieving educational excellence everywhere so that children in all areas of the country can realise their full potential.We have reformed the national curriculum and are reforming GCSEs and A levels to be robust and rigorous, to match the best education systems in the world and to keep pace with the demands of universities and employers.We are taking steps to ensure that children have mastered the basics of mathematics and English at primary school because we know that those who do not are far less likely to succeed when they move to secondary school. This is already having an impact: three years on from the introduction of phonics testing, over 120,000 more six-year-olds (based on 2015 cohort numbers) are now on track to become excellent readers.There are some schools in areas of the country, including rural and coastal areas, which lag behind in terms of attainment. This government is introducing a range of measures that will support their improvement.For example, we will increase the number of National Leaders of Education (NLEs) to provide high quality leadership expertise and support to schools with low attainment and we will implement a new National Teaching Service (NTS). By 2020 we will have deployed 1,500 outstanding teachers and middle leaders to underperforming low attaining schools in these areas.We will not hesitate to take action where schools fail to raise attainment to an acceptable level. Our Education and Adoption Bill ensures that all failing (inadequate) schools will become academies, supported by high quality sponsors.This is the best way to make sure schools improve quickly. Sponsored primary academies which have been open for two years have improved their test results at more than double the rate of those in the maintained sector over the same period. Furthermore, secondary sponsored academies opened over the last four academic years have, on average, matched or bettered their performance compared with this time last year.We are already seeing progress, with more young people studying core academic subjects and one million more pupils in good or outstanding schools.

Pupil Exclusions: Domestic Violence

Stephen McPartland: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupils have been suspended from school for having committed domestic assaults in each year since 2012; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: The Department for Education does not hold information on exclusions linked with domestic assault.The latest available data on exclusions, including reasons for exclusions, was published in the Statistical First Release ‘Permanent and Fixed Period Exclusions from Schools in England 2013/14’ on 30 July 2015 at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/permanent-and-fixed-period-exclusions-in-england-2013-to-2014Any violence in school is unacceptable. We encourage all schools to take reasonable and proportionate measures to ensure security. The government has also introduced a range of powers for teachers to ensure discipline, behaviour and safety are maintained. We have introduced new search powers, no-notice detentions, and have ensured that the final decision on whether to reinstate permanently excluded pupils rests with schools.

Children in Care: GCSE

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of looked-after children have received at least five GCSEs at grades A*-C in each year since 2010.

Edward Timpson: The information requested is published in the statistical first release “Outcomes for Children Looked After by Local Authorities in England as at 31 March 2014” on GOV.UK[1].Percentage of children who have been looked after continuously for at least 12 months achieving 5 or more GCSEs at A*-C or equivalent, 2010-2014, England[2]. 2010201120122013201420142013 methodology2014 methodology5+ GCSEs A*-C or equivalent28.833.537.237.231.116.3 Source: CLA-NPD matched dataNote that two major reforms were implemented which affected the calculation of key stage 4 (KS4) performance measures in 2014[3] and therefore 2014 data is not comparable to that for earlier years. The additional ‘2013 methodology’ figure shown in the table has been included to provide a point of comparison, using a proxy set of results based on 2012/13 rules. However, it cannot reverse the behaviour of some schools in response to the policy changes, nor does it take into account other changes, so still should not be used to make direct comparisons with earlier years.[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/outcomes-for-children-looked-after-by-local-authorities[2] Children looked after continuously for at least 12 months as at 31 March excluding those children in respite care. Only children who are matched to key stage 4 data are included. Figures for 2014 are based on provisional data. Figures for all other years are based on final data.[3] Professor Alison Wolf’s Review of Vocational Education recommendations which restrict the qualifications counted, prevent any qualification from counting as larger than one GCSE and cap the number of non-GCSEs included in performance measures at two per pupil. There is also an early entry policy to only count a pupil’s first attempt at a qualification. More details can be found in the statistical release: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/provisional-gcse-and-equivalent-results-in-england-2013-to-2014. The reforms had a significant impact on the 2013/14 GCSE and equivalent results data for all pupils. To aid users in understanding this impact on children looked after, the additional ‘2013 methodology’ data has been produced, which removes the rules regarding the Wolf Review recommendations and early entry policy from the calculation of performance measures.

Children's Play: Disability

John Glen: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the level of support available to help families with disabled children find appropriate play opportunities.

Edward Timpson: Since 1 September 2014, local authorities have been under a duty to develop and publish a Local Offer, which sets out the support they expect to be available for children and young people with special educational needs (SEN) or disabilities in their local area. This must provide clear, comprehensive, accessible and up-to-date information about the available provision and how to access it, and must make provision responsive to what parents and children want by involving them in its development. The Local Offer must include information about leisure activities, which could include information about play opportunities.Play has an important role in supporting all young children to develop and prepare for later learning. The importance of play is recognised in the Early Years Foundation Stage framework, which states: “Each area of learning and development must be implemented through planned, purposeful play and through a mix of adult-led and child-initiated activity. Play is essential for children’s development, building their confidence as they learn to explore, to think about problems, and relate to others.”Since September 2014, two year olds who have a statement of SEN, or an Education, Health and Care Plan, or who are receiving Disability Living Allowance, have also been entitled to 570 hours of free early education, to support their families.For older children, the Equality Act 2010 requires all schools to publish an accessibility plan. These plans are about ensuring that all aspects of school life, including facilities used for play, are accessible to disabled pupils. In addition, local authorities are required to publish an accessibility strategy which must be published as part of their Local Offer.

Higher Education: Admissions

Suella Fernandes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupils eligible for free school meals took up a place at each university in each year since 2005-06.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Data showing the numbers of students eligible for free school meals, going to individual universities, are not published by the department.Destination measures data are published and show the overall percentage of key stage 5 students[1] eligible for free school meals[2] going into sustained[3] destinations at higher education institutions. The data also include the percentage going into sustained destinations at Russell group universities and Oxford and Cambridge.Destination measures data for students eligible for free school meals are published for the years 2010/11 to 2013/14 and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-destinations[1] Key stage 5 students are those entered for A level or other equivalent level 3 qualifications[2] Eligible for free school meals at any time in year 11[3] Sustained for 6 months (October to March)

Primary Education: Assessments

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 12 November to Question 14860, whether all of the providers approved by her Department to provide baseline assessment for primary schools reached the qualifying 10 per cent threshold for providers by the 30 April 2015 deadline.

Nick Gibb: The contractual acceptance criteria for reception baseline suppliers had two levels related to the volume of schools recruited. If fewer than four suppliers met the 10% threshold, suppliers were still accepted if they had recruited more than 1,000 schools. All approved suppliers met the minimum volume criteria.The reception baseline contract is published online at: https://data.gov.uk/data/contracts-finder-archive/contract/1656259/

Schools: Bracknell Forest

Dr Phillip Lee: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 10 November 2015 to Question 14393, what proportion of the £4.2 billion funding to schools, local authorities, academy trusts and voluntary-aided partners has been allocated to Bracknell Forest Council.

Edward Timpson: Bracknell Forest local authority received £2.7m (0.2%) of the £1.4bn allocated to schools in 2015-16. This funding is for maintained and voluntary aided schools. Academies are not funded via local authorities.Bracknell Forest local authority’s share of the £1.4bn allocations for 2016-17 and 2017-18 (and therefore the total £4.2bn for 2015-18) will depend on the number of maintained and voluntary aided schools in the local authority.

Ministry of Justice

Courts: South East

Mr Andrew Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to page 28 of his Department's consultation paper, Proposal on the provision of court and tribunal services in the South East Region, published in July 2015, on what statistical basis the figure of 78 per cent of court usage capacity was calculated; and if he will publish the data underlying that calculation.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The utilisation figure for Chichester Combined Court of approximately 78% quoted in the consultation was based on Crown Court work only (1928 hours) and only took account of the two Crown Court rooms in the Combined Court. Chichester Combined Court also hears county court work and held 1069 hours of work giving a total of 2997 hours. This provides an overall utilisation figure of approximately 60% for the four rooms (two Crown Court and two used for County Court work) at Chichester Combined Court. This adjustment will also be published in the consultation response document.

Ministry of Justice: Departmental Responsibilities

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department conducted an (a) impact assessment and (b) internal review of the effect of the transfer of responsibility for freedom of information to the Cabinet Office prior to that transfer.

Dominic Raab: It is for the Prime Minister to decide on the overall organisation of the executive. The implications of transferring responsibility for the Freedom of Information Act to the Cabinet Office were considered prior to this change taking effect. A formal impact assessment was not necessary.

Whitemoor Prison: Radicalism

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps to reduce Islamist culture at HM Prison Whitemoor.

Andrew Selous: Any behaviour by those convicted of extremist crimes or who subscribe to an agenda which seeks to promote extremist views will be challenged and managed accordingly.In order to ensure our current practice is as robust and effective as possible in dealing with such beliefs, the Justice Secretary has commissioned a review, supported by external expertise, of the overall approach to dealing with Islamist extremism in prisons, probation and the youth justice system.

Holloway Prison: Education

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many inmates are able to access education at HM Prison Holloway each day.

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the quality of educational facilities in HM Prison Holloway; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Selous: At HMP Holloway there are currently approximately 120 places in a morning session and the same in an afternoon session for women to attend education courses. Women may attend in one or two sessions each day depending on the type of course they are on. In addition there are approximately 40 places available to attend Physical Education provision and approximately 60 places in vocational training areas.The Secretary of State for Justice announced on 8th September a review of the quality of education in prisons, chaired by Dame Sally Coates. The review will examine the scope, quality and effectiveness of current provision. It will consider the scope and range of the current curricula and identify the most effective teaching and delivery models. Stakeholders are being consulted and a Call for Evidence has been issued. The review is expected to report in the spring of 2016. A copy of the terms of reference are lodged in the library of the House and at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-prison-education-terms-of-reference

Prisons: Employment

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisons do not accommodate workshops.

Andrew Selous: We want to see more prisoners working productively for longer numbers of hours. We also want to attract more employers who offer both work in prison but also guaranteed interviews and employment opportunities on release. That is why we want to reform the prison estate, building nine new prisons with better facilities for training and rehabilitation.All prisons provide opportunities for offenders to work and learn new skills which can help them find a job on release and support their rehabilitation. We work continuously with employers nationally and locally to create new opportunities in line with our code of practice.NOMS uses a specific definition of 'workshop' which is only used for commercial and industrial scale work and specific work activities. [1] Currently, there are 10 prisons which are not planning to offer this type of work this year [2], however other learning, vocational training and work opportunities will still be available in these establishments.Work in prisons continues to grow steadily, up from 10.6 million working hours in 10/11 to 14.9 million working hours in the year 14/15.[1] Including Enterprise/Contract Services, Engineering, Aluminium, Laundry, Newgate Furniture, Concrete, Plastics, Textiles, Woodwork, Food Packing, Commercial Land Based Activities, Braille, Charity, Printing, Data Entry, Signs, Desk Top Publishing, Retail, External Recycling and other workshops.[2] Excludes four establishments the Youth Justice Board (YJB) commission from the National Offender Management Service (NOMS)

Prisons: Employment

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many workshop placements were delivered in prisons for (a) women and (b) men in each of the last three years.

Andrew Selous: NOMS uses a specific definition of 'workshop' which is only used for commercial and industrial scale work and specific work activities.[1] These figures do not include the substantial number of prisoners in otherlearning, vocational training or work opportunities within prison on tasks such as cooking, serving meals, maintenance and cleaning which can help them find a job on release and support their rehabilitation. The figures also exclude work placements undertaken by offenders on release from prison on temporary licence.The average number of prisoners reported as undertaking specific work activities1 at any one time across male and female public sector prisons in England and Wales in each of the last three years is set out in Table 1 below. Equivalent figures for contracted-out prisons are only available for 2014/15 and are shown in Table 2.Table 1Year[2]Average Number of Prisoners Working[3] in Public Sector PrisonsFemale PrisonsMale Prisons2012/132248,0542013/142438,1532014/152418,453Table 2YearAverage Number of Prisoners Working3 [4] in Contracted-out PrisonsFemale PrisonsMale Prisons2014/152392,461Work in prisons continues to grow steadily, up from 10.6 million working hours in 10/11 to 14.9 million working hours in the year 14/15. Our key focus remains on ensuring that we grow work – particularly from other Government Departments. That is why we want to reform the prison estate, building nine new prisons with better facilities for training and rehabilitation.[1] Including Enterprise/Contract Services, Engineering, Aluminium, Laundry, Newgate Furniture, Concrete, Plastics, Textiles, Woodwork, Food Packing, Commercial Land Based Activities, Braille, Charity, Printing, Data Entry, Signs, Desk Top Publishing, Retail, External Recycling and other workshops.[2] For 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 the figures include estimated adjustments to take account of changes introduced following a review in 2014 to re-categorise some types of activities, such as non-commercial Land Based Activities. For the above tables further estimates have been made of the relative proportion of commercial to non-commercial Land Based Activities in female prisons where this is unknown.[3] Data relating to public sector prisons is sourced from administrative IT monitoring systems used by them to record the number of prisoners in each of their workshops. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the data, the level of detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system. The number of prisoners working refers to the average number of prisoners working in the defined activities across the prison estate at a particular time as is not a cumulative figure.[4] Contracted-out prisons have no contractual obligation to provide NOMS with the number of prisoners working. They have provided this information for 2014/15, but no information on the number of prisoners working is available for previous years.

Employment Tribunals Service

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many claims were taken to an employment tribunal for (a) non-payment of wages and (b) non-compliance with minimum wage legislation in each of the last five years; and how many such claims were upheld in each year.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the total amount award by employment tribunals to claimants for (a) non-payment of wages and (b) non-compliance with minimum wage legislation was in each of the last five years.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many employment tribunal claims for (a) non-payment of wages and (b) non-compliance with minimum wage legislation were made by women in each of the last five years.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of people who made an employment tribunal claim for (a) non-payment of wages and (b) non-compliance with minimum wage legislation in each quarter since October 2013 applied for (i) an issue fee remission and (ii) a hearing fee remission; and how many such applications were successful in each such quarter.

Mr Shailesh Vara: Information about the number of claims accepted by the Employment Tribunal relating to non-payment of wages and non-compliance with minimum wage legislation, and those upheld, can be located under the National Minimum Wage and Unauthorised Deductions jurisdiction, found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statisticsInformation relating to the number of claimants who have been successful in fee remissions for issue and hearing fees is not recorded separately for the Employment Tribunal jurisdiction and can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.HM Courts & Tribunals Service only record information about awards relating to discrimination claims in the Employment Tribunal. The information relating to awards to claimants in non-payment of wages and non-compliance with minimum wage legislation is not recorded centrally and can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.The table below shows the number of claims received by the Employment Tribunal in relation to non-payment of wages and non-compliance with minimum wage legislation, which were made by women in each of the last five financial years.Financial YearNon-payment of wages1Non-compliance with national minimum wage2010-1122,1542792011-1214,3672322012-1316,4792462013-149,0821022014-158,83666Source: Employment Tribunal Database1 This count may also include claims where unauthorised deductions have been made, we are unable to separate these.

Ministry of Defence

Air Force: Anniversaries

Edward Argar: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans his Department has to hold national events to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the RAF in 2018.

Mark Lancaster: The Ministry of Defence is in the planning stage of its RAF100 Campaign and intends to hold a National commemoration to mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of the RAF. A full list of events and activities will be published in 2017.

Armed Forces: Pensions

Gavin Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, in what instances special or additional pension provision has been made for part-time military personnel in the last 20 years.

Mark Lancaster: Since the mid 1990s Reserves have had a variety of pension options to choose from when mobilised, including access to an Armed Forces pension scheme for the period of their mobilisation. However, there has been no special or additional pension provision made for part-time military personnel beyond the following statutory arrangements.Since 1 April 2015 all members of the UK part-time Volunteer Reserves have been enrolled in the Armed Forces Pension Scheme 2015 and for the first time all their attendance-based paid service now counts as pensionable. Prior to that, from 6 April 2005 to 31 March 2015, personnel serving on an Additional Duties Commitment (ADC) were eligible to join the Reserve Forces Pension Scheme 2005 (RFPS 05). Those members of the RFPS 05 still serving on an ADC on 1 April 2015 transferred to the new scheme unless they met the criteria for transitional protection.

Ulster Defence Regiment: Pensions

Gavin Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether a pension was provided to (a) full and (b) part-time members of the Ulster Defence Regiment who latterly served in the Home Battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment.

Gavin Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department plans to provide a pension to part-time soldiers who served in the Ulster Defence Regiment.

Mark Lancaster: Full time members of the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) had an automatic entitlement to become members of the Armed Forces Pension Scheme. Part-time members of the UDR were engaged under different terms to the full time regular members of the Regiment. These terms were similar to those of the Territorial Army and reflected that part-time engagements were often on an irregular, intermittent and short-term basis.Part-time membersof the UDR were not members of an Armed Forces Pension Scheme.There are no plans to review the pension entitlement for former members of the Ulster Defence Regiment.

Veterans Advisory and Pensions Committees

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 16 November 2015 to Question 15947, on the Veterans Advisory and Pensions Committees, how long he expects the matter to be under consideration.

Mark Lancaster: I have considered this matter and will bring forward an amendment in the Armed Forces Bill to extend the remit of the Veterans Advisory and Pensions Committees.

Defence: Procurement

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the likely effect of redundancies in the UK steel industry on the proportion of defence procurement that arises from UK businesses.

Mr Philip Dunne: Steel is sourced by our contractors from a range of UK and international suppliers, reflecting the need to ensure competitive cost, time and quality. The Ministry of Defence has not directly made an assessment of the likely effect of redundancies in the UK steel industry but, is represented on the cross-Government steel procurement working group led by the Cabinet Office, and new Government guidelines, which include the need for effective pre-procurement engagement, will help UK suppliers compete for contracts and continue to support future defence requirements for steel.

War Pensions

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reasons the triple lock on pensions does not apply to disability war pensions.

Mark Lancaster: Compensation payments under the War Pensions Scheme are uprated annually in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) figure. This is the same measure the Department for Work and Pensions uses for uprating social security disability benefits and is in keeping with other public service schemes. Our approach ensures consistency with the measure of inflation used by the Bank of England.The triple lock applies only to the State Pension. Members of the Armed Forces will therefore benefit from the triple lock once they reach State Pension age.

Underwater Test and Evaluation Centre

Ian Blackford: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on the proposed byelaw changes for the waters between the Scottish mainland and the Island of Raasay.

Mark Lancaster: In accordance with the byelaws review process the Ministry of Defence has engaged with the Scottish Government Criminal Justice Division regarding the proposed new British Underwater Test and Evaluation Centre Byelaws.

Underwater Test and Evaluation Centre

Ian Blackford: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department conducted an economic impact assessment of the proposed byelaw changes for the waters between the mainland of Scotland and the Island of Raasay.

Ian Blackford: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the contribution of the Minister of State for Defence Procurement of 23 June 2015, columns 861-62, for what reasons full and proper consultation with local fishing communities in advance of consultation on byelaw revision has not taken place; and if he will suspend the byelaw consultation relating to waters between the Scottish mainland and Raasay.

Mark Lancaster: The views submitted by members of the public and other local stakeholders as part of the public consultation on the proposed changes will be used to inform if the Ministry of Defence is justified in producing an economic impact as this is not required as part of the review process.Full and proper consultationon on the proposed new byelaws with local fishing communities and stakeholders is part of the current byelaws review process. The review was preceded by initial discussions between QinetiQ and local fishing communities over the summer. While the byelaw review has been extended to the end of November 2015, there is no plan to suspend the on-going public consultation phase of the byelaw review.

Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of the Voyager fleet has been fitted with the enhanced defensive aids suite; and what estimate he has made of the cost of fitting that suite to the remainder of that fleet.

Mr Philip Dunne: I am withholding information on the precise fitment of defensive aids to Voyager as its disclosure would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

Department for Work and Pensions

Universal Credit: Disqualification

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to ensure that universal credit claimants are not sanctioned in the period between accepting an offer of employment and starting employment.

Priti Patel: Universal Credit claimants, who are expected to look for work, must take all reasonable action they can to become employed. Any requirements placed on the claimant will be based on a discussion with their work coach, taking into account the individual’s circumstances, including any offer of employment they may have received.

Employment: Older People

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is planning to enable more people aged over 50 to gain employment.

Priti Patel: DWP will continue to challenge people’s outdated perception about older workers, and build on the work started by Business Champion for Older Workers to actively promote the business case and benefits of employing older workers, seeking to engage and influence both strategically and in terms of practical advice.Jobcentre Plus continues to use a range of innovative approaches to help claimants back to work. Work Coaches have the flexibility to offer all claimants, including older people, a comprehensive menu of help which includes skills provision and job search support.

Children: Maintenance

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of child maintenance cases resulted in complaints in the (a) 2012 Child Maintenance Scheme, (b) 1993 legacy scheme and (c) 2003 legacy scheme; and what proportion of complaints were upheld in each year since 2010.

Priti Patel: From 10 December 2012 the 2012 Child Maintenance Scheme was opened to new applications with at least 4 qualifying children with the same two parents named in the application. From the 29 July 2013 the scheme then opened to new applicants with at least two qualifying children with the same two parents named in the application. From November 2013 the scheme opened to all new applicants.For the 2012 Child Maintenance Scheme in 2013-14 and 2014-15 the proportion of complaints received against the total caseload was 0.7% and 1.7% respectively.Following the launch of the 2003 Scheme for the years 2003-4 and 2004-5, the proportion of complaints received against the CSA caseload was 4.9% and 6.0%, respectively.For the 1993 Scheme (excluding complaints managed off system), which had been in operation for 17 years, and which had not admitted new cases since March 2003, the proportion of complaints received against the live caseload in the years 2010-11 to 2014-15 was 1.5%, 0.9% 0.7% 0.4% and 0.2% respectively.For the 2003 Scheme (excluding complaints managed off system), which had been in operation for seven years, and which had a reduced inflow of new cases following the introduction of the 2012 system, the proportion of complaints received against the live caseload in the years 2010-11 to 2014-15 was 1.9%, 1.6%, 1.4%, 1.1% and 0.7%, respectively.Figures show the number of complaints received against the live/total caseload. There will be cases which have more than one complaint.For the 2012 Child Maintenance Scheme, information on complaints upheld is not routinely recorded for management information purposes and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.Data on complaints upheld includes fully and partially upheld complaints, but cannot be split between 1993 and 2003 Schemes. In the years from 2010-11 to 2014-15, the percentage of complaints upheld was 50.1%, 49.0%, 49.1%, 43.2%, 44.0% respectively.

Carer's Allowance

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 16 November 2015 to Question 15934, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people in receipt of carer's credit in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Justin Tomlinson: Historical information on the number of people in receipt of Carers Credit in each of the last five years is not available. To comply with Data Protection, dormant Carers Credit cases which have been closed for 14 months or more are removed from the Carers Credit Operating System and clerical records destroyed.An estimated 8908 people are currently in receipt of Carers Credit (November 2015).15,477 Carers Credit applications have been made since it was introduced in April 2010.

Children: Day Care

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to page three of the document Universal Credit: increasing the childcare offer, published by his Department in December 2014, whether his Department remains on course to introduce childcare support into universal credit at 85 per cent of costs in April 2016.

Priti Patel: Yes, this change will be made as planned in April 2016. The Universal Credit and Miscellaneous Amendments Regulations 2015 include the legislative change which will bring this into force.

Employment: Bullying

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an estimate of the number of days of work lost because of bullying in the workplace in the last 12 months.

Justin Tomlinson: DWP does not tolerate bullying in any form.Guidance on our approach to dealing with and managing bullying is available to all employees and managers, and our policy is that all cases of bullying should be reported.DWP capture absence data in a format that is standard across the Civil Service, which is by absence ‘type’. Each absence may have a number of underlying causes, therefore it is not possible to estimate the number of days of work lost because of bullying. Nevertheless, DWP’s current Average Working Days Lost stands at 6.28 which is the lowest it has been in the last 12 months, and down substantially compared to 5 years ago when it stood at 8.2.

Employment: Carers

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress his Department has made on establishing pilot schemes to support carers to stay in work in North Tyneside, Northamptonshire, Cheshire West, Gateshead, Bury, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Staffordshire and Stoke and Sefton.

Justin Tomlinson: Government has provided £1.6 million of funding for nine Carers in Employment pilots in North Tyneside, Northamptonshire, Cheshire West, Gateshead, Bury, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Staffordshire and Stoke and Sefton, to explore how carers can be supported to stay in, or return to paid work alongside their caring responsibilities. They began running in all nine Local Authorities from April 2015. These pilot projects support local businesses to make the best use of flexible working arrangements, maximise the use of assistive technology; improve carers’ access to information and resources, and support carers to set up micro-businesses that will expand the local care market.

Work Capability Assessment

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the age-standardised mortality rate of people declared fit for work by his Department since December 2011.

Priti Patel: The information as requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Habitual Residence Test

Marie Rimmer: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the habitual residence test on UK citizens returning to the UK from working overseas.

Priti Patel: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Sheffield Central on 9 September 2015 to Question 8901:http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2015-09-04/8901/

Universal Credit

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 5 November 2015 to Question 15090, how much his Department spent on costs associated with the roll-out of universal credit between October 2014 and October 2015.

Priti Patel: DWP’S audited and approved accounts are available for the period October 2014 to March 2015 inclusive. These show DWP spent £139m on costs associated with the delivery of Universal Credit (UC).Expenditure for the period from April 2015 to October 2015 has not yet been audited and approved, and has not been included as it is subject to change.

Jobcentres

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when his Department last audited the amount of unused space within each Jobcentre Plus.

Priti Patel: The Department for Work and Pensions occupies the majority of its estate under a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) known as the PRIME Contract. Under this PFI, the Department leases fully serviced accommodation from its private sector partner Telereal Trillium. The Department pays an inclusive unitary price for the space occupied. The Department does not own any of the buildings that it occupies. As such, we continually review our space and utilisation within Jobcentre Plus.

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make transitional arrangements for women affected by changes to the state pension age introduced during the 2010 Parliament.

Justin Tomlinson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 20 November 2015 to Gavin Newlands (Paisley and Renfrewshire North), Question UIN 15476

Jobseeker's Allowance: Disqualification

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether it is his Department's policy that a jobseeker who is telephoned by a Jobcentre Plus adviser and does not answer the telephone on more than one occasion should be considered for a sanction.

Priti Patel: Under JSA, claimants are not sanctioned for failing to answer their telephone. In Universal Credit, claimants who have a prearranged telephone interview with their Work Coach, and who fail to participate without good reason, can be referred for a sanction decision.

Department for Work and Pensions: Redundancy

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many voluntary redundancies there have been in his Department in 2015.

Justin Tomlinson: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Housing Benefit

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the increase in the number of in-work recipients of housing benefits in the last five years.

Justin Tomlinson: Under this Government the number of out-of-work Housing Benefit claimants has fallen and one key reason for this is that they have made the positive move into work. In this way it is unsurprising, therefore, that the number of in-work recipients of Housing Benefit should rise.

Department for Work and Pensions: Disability

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many disability discrimination tribunals have been brought against his Department as an employer in each of the last five years.

Justin Tomlinson: In the years since 2011 staffing levels in DWP have reduced from 109,445 to 84,610.The number of disability discrimination tribunals DWP lost in the years 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 is 5, 6, 13, 2, and 2 respectively.The number of disability discrimination tribunals dismissed in the years 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 is 14, 23, 17, 25, and 19 respectively.The number of disability discrimination tribunals withdrawn in the years 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 is 36, 57, 50, 14, and 10 respectively.The number of disability discrimination tribunals settled in the years 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 is 28, 24, 16, 14, and 6 respectively.The number of disability discrimination tribunals DWP won in the years 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 is 21, 30, 23, 6 and 2 respectively.

Universal Credit: Housing

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of households in receipt of universal credit who receive support for housing costs are also subject to all work-related requirements.

Justin Tomlinson: The information you have requested is not currently available. The Department published its strategy for releasing official statistics on Universal Credit (UC) in September 2013. As outlined in the strategy, officials are currently quality assuring data for UC therefore it is not yet possible to give a definitive list of what statistics will be provided in the future. These statistics however will be published in accordance with the relevant protocols in the Code of Practice for official statistics.The latest official experimental statistics on UC and the Departments release strategy can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/universal-credit-statistics.

Vacancies: Internet

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of jobseeker's allowance claimants have used Universal Jobmatch in the last 12 months.

Priti Patel: Universal Jobmatch is open to anyone to use in order to look for work, whether they are claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance or not. We do not differentiate between different types of users and are not able to provide statistics on the numbers of each.

ICT: Training

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people making a new benefit claim in the last 12 months were offered training on IT literacy.

Priti Patel: The information requested is not available.

Internet: Training

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Jobcentre Plus offices have space in their building that is available for use by voluntary groups, social enterprises and mutuals to help equip claimants with the skills they need to use the internet.

Priti Patel: The Department for Work and Pensions occupies the majority of its estate under a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) known as the PRIME Contract. Under this PFI, the Department leases fully serviced accommodation from its private sector partner Telereal Trillium. The Department pays an inclusive unitary price for the space occupied. The Department does not own any of the buildings that it occupies.The Department constantly reviews its estate to ensure the effective use of space. Jobcentre Plus works closely with local partners and providers across our network and we have a wide range of stakeholders in our buildings including local authority colleagues, employers, service providers and voluntary organisations. We also work from a wide range of partners’ premises, for example community hubs, libraries as well as co-locating our services in local authority sites.The Department has provided public internet access devices across our Jobcentre Plus offices, and deploys staff to support those claimants who may need assistance in building the skills they need to make claims on-line and with job search.

Employment Schemes

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Jobcentre Plus offices host work clubs and service academies.

Priti Patel: The information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Parental Pay: Small Businesses

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has to review the rate at which small businesses can recover statutory maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave pay.

Priti Patel: Small employers, defined as those who have paid £45,000 or less in gross national insurance in the preceding tax year, can recover all of the Statutory Maternity, Adoption, Paternity and Shared Parental Pay they pay out plus an additional amount in compensation for the employer’s share of the National Insurance Contributions (NICs) due on the statutory payments.The current rate of compensation paid to small employers is 3%. The Statutory Maternity Pay (Compensation of Employers) and Miscellaneous Amendment Regulations 1994 set out how compensation is calculated and, in addition, require it to be assessed annually which is done alongside the annual uprating of benefits.The rate derived for Statutory Maternity Pay is also applied to Statutory Adoption, Paternity and Shared Parental Pay.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Forests

Rebecca Pow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of ancient woodland is located within (a) national parks and (b) areas of outstanding natural beauty; and what proportion of that woodland has site of special scientific interest status.

Rory Stewart: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 23 November 2015.The correct answer should have been:

Natural England estimates that 15% of ancient woodlandis located within national parks and 30% is located within areas of outstanding natural beauty (AONBs). In national parks, 41% 29%of this woodland has site of special scientific interest (SSSI) status; in AONBs, 13% of this woodland has SSSI status.

Rory Stewart: Natural England estimates that 15% of ancient woodlandis located within national parks and 30% is located within areas of outstanding natural beauty (AONBs). In national parks, 41% 29%of this woodland has site of special scientific interest (SSSI) status; in AONBs, 13% of this woodland has SSSI status.

Peat Bogs

Richard Benyon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress her Department has made towards the targets for protecting peat set out in the Natural Environment White Paper of 2011 since the publication of the last implementation update report in October 2014.

Rory Stewart: Defra is currently carrying out a review of progress towards the targets for peat reduction in horticulture set out in the Natural Environment White Paper. Based on sales data from 2014, there has been a 24% reduction in peat sales for horticultural use in the UK since 2011.

Fisheries: White Fish

Mrs Sheryll Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what measures she proposes to introduce to regulate commercial fishermen catching sea bass for the period from 1 January to 30 June 2016.

Mrs Sheryll Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proposed measures are being introduced for the fishing of sea bass by commercial fishermen in the period from 1 July to 31 December 2016.

Mrs Sheryll Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what changes she proposes to introduce to the regulation of recreational sea anglers who capture sea bass for the period from 1 January to 30 June 2016.

Mrs Sheryll Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what changes she proposes to introduce to the regulation of recreational sea anglers who capture sea bass for the period from 1 July to 31 December 2016.

Mrs Sheryll Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the level of stocks of sea bass since the implementation of restrictions on landing that fish by (a) commercial and (b) recreational fishermen in 2015.

George Eustice: The European Commission has issued proposals[1] on fishing opportunities to be agreed for 2016, which includes EU bass management measures for the commercial fishing and recreational sea angling sectors consisting of a moratorium on fishing for bass in the first six months, and reduced catch limits for the latter half of the year. The UK response to these proposals is being considered in advance of negotiations at the December Fisheries Council.The latest available assessment of the bass stock, from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, was published in June this year before the full set of EU bass management measures for 2015 was finalised in September. Its next assessment is due in June 2016.[1] http://eur-lex.europa.eu/resource.html?uri=cellar:f4d9701d-87b1-11e5-b8b7-01aa75ed71a1.0011.02/DOC_1&format=PDF

Horses: Exports

Dr Paul Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many horses were exported for slaughter in each of the last 10 financial years.

George Eustice: Horses or ponies exported to another EU member state must be accompanied by a health certificate which specifies whether they are intended for breeding and production or slaughter.Records for exports from Great Britain are only available from 2013. The Animal and Plant Health Agency have no record of any export health certificates where the intended purpose has been declared to be for slaughter.There is no information available for the intended use of horses exported to countries outside of the EU.

Dogs Act 1871: Wales

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people in Wales have been subject to proceedings in a magistrates' court for offences under the Dogs Act 1871 in each year since 1997; and if she will make a statement.

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people in Wales have been prosecuted under sections (a) 1(3), (b) 3(1) and (c) 3(3) of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 in each year since 1991; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice: The number of persons proceeded against at magistrates' court under Section 2 of the Dogs Act 1871, within Wales police force areas, from 1997 to 2014 (the latest available), can be viewed in table 1The number of persons proceeded against at magistrates' court for selected offences under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, within Wales police force areas, from 1991 to 2014 (the latest available), can be viewed in table 2Dog attacks are not recorded centrally. However, the attached table provides numbers of successful prosecutions against people who have allowed a dog to be dangerously out of control for each of the last two years for which figures are available.Table 1 Number of persons proceeded against at magistrates' court under Section 2(1) of the Dogs Act 1871, within Wales police force areas(2), 1997 to 2014 (3)(4)  Number of proceedings199719981999200020012002200320042005200697116826469574529261720072008(5)2009201020112012201320141815486457(1) Own a dangerous dog not kept under control (2) The Police force areas within Wales are: North Wales, Gwent; South Wales, Dyfed-Powys (3) The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (4) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data collection process and their inevitable limitation are taken into account when those data are used. (5) Excludes data for Cardiff magistrates' court for April, July and August 2008.Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services - Ministry of Justice Ref: PQC16790Table 2Number of persons proceeded against at magistrates' court for selected offences(1) under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, within Wales police force areas, 1991 to 2014 (3)(4) Number of proceedings1991199219931994199519961997199819992000041541328242744669020012002200320042005200620072008(52009201079787689736677727896201120122013201410414310098(1) Includes offences under section 1(3), 3 (1) and 3(3) of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 which came into effect on 12 August 1991 (2) the Police force areas within Wales are: North Wales, Gwent; South Wales; Dyfed-Powys (3) The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (4) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (5) Excludes data for Cardiff magistrates' court for April, July and August 2008.Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services - Ministry of Justice Ref: PQC16879.

Agriculture: Permaculture

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of permaculture techniques; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice: Defra undertakes no specific research into the effectiveness of permaculture techniques, but the principles of permaculture are reflected in our current research programme. We are investing £4 million over three years in research through the Sustainable Intensification Research Platform to improve the environmental and economic performance of farming. This includes exploring integrated farm management techniques and landscape scale opportunities.

Livestock: Antibiotics

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to reduce instances of antibiotic resistance developing in farmed animals; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice: In September 2013, the government published the UK Five-Year Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Strategy. The strategy sets out three strategic aims to minimise the development of antibiotic resistance and protect human and animal health and welfare.In December 2014, the Government published the first annual progress report against the UK 5 year AMR Strategy[1]. The report sets out the work underway in each of the seven key areas, more specifically:- infection, prevention and control,- education and outreach,- better access to surveillance data,- strengthening International collaborationThe report also includes the further measures on animal health to be taken over the next four years to respond to the risk of AMR and to promote the responsible use of antibiotics.[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/progress-report-on-the-uk-five-year-amr-strategy-2014

Horses

Dr Paul Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that the tri-partite agreement between the UK, the Republic of Ireland and France on the importation and exportation of horses is achieving its aims; and if she will establish a comprehensive audit trail of movements to protect (a) consumers from exposure to illegal horse meat and (b) animals from cruelty.

Dr Paul Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which government agency has overall responsibility for the control and monitoring of the movement of horses and their importation and exportation.

George Eustice: The Tri-Partite Agreement (TPA) implements a derogation from the animal health conditions that normally apply when horses are moved between EU member states. In recognition of an increased, but still low risk of disease being spread through such movements, a new TPA with France and Ireland came into effect on 18 May 2014. The TPA does not apply to horses moving directly for slaughter, these are subject to harmonised EU certification. It also does not affect the requirement to comply with welfare legislation.For movements between the United Kingdom and France, only horses with a higher health status can benefit from the derogation. All such movements must be pre-notified on the European Commission’s TRACES system and be accompanied by a commercial document (DOCOM) produced by an approved TPA body as well as an official identification document. The TPA is generally restricted to thoroughbreds and non-thoroughbreds involved in racing, training and breeding plus horses participating in events regulated by the Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI).As part of the conditions of their approval, TPA bodies have had to demonstrate to Defra that they can deliver good traceability and that they comply with the relevant welfare legislation as part of their normal governance arrangements.The Chief Veterinary Officer has met several times with his French and Irish counterparts and with representatives of the equine sector to review the operation of the new TPA. This has included discussions on the arrangements for auditing the agreement to ensure that there is a consistent approach between the three countries. The TPA will be audited by the Animal and Plant Health Agency in Great Britain.Local authorities are designated as enforcement bodies under the Trade in Animals and Related Products Regulations 2011, the Horse Passport Regulations 2009 and the Welfare of Animals (Transport) (England) Order 2006 and corresponding legislation in Wales and Scotland.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Local Government Finance: Greater London

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much funding his Department has allocated to each local authority in London per head of population in each year since 2010-11; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Marcus Jones: My Department does not hold the information in the format requested.

Affordable Housing

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assistance his Department plans to give to local authorities to ensure that they are able to provide new affordable housing to people on low incomes.

Brandon Lewis: More council housing has been built since 2010 than in the previous 13 years. 2014 saw the highest number of council housing starts for 23 years.Almost £222 million of extra borrowing headroom has been allocated to 36 councils in England to support over 3,000 new affordable homes in 2015/16 and 2016/17.The 2011-15 Affordable Homes Programme exceeded expectations - delivering 186,000 new affordable homes -16,000 more than the target. In addition, this Government is committed to delivering a further 275,000 new affordable homes by 2020. Through the 2015-18 Affordable Homes programme, we have already allocated around £1.4 billion to support this deliveryThe Government is committed to helping hard working people across the country to own their own home. We believe that shared ownership has an important role to play in helping those who aspire to home ownership but may be otherwise unable to afford it.We launched a one-off £36 million funding package in August to pave the way for the first wave of Starter Homes on brownfield sites that would otherwise not be built on to help more young people into discounted home ownership. Of this, up to £10million will be made available to councils in England. 200,000 Starter Homes will be built by 2020/21.Right to buy additions are due within 3 years of sales: 3,694 new Right to Buy addition starts and acquisitions were delivered against 3,054 additional homes sold in the first year of the scheme. Receipts from the sale of Right to Buy homes will continue to help authorities to build new additional properties.

English Language: Education

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assistance his Department provides to local authorities and housing associations for English language courses following the withdrawal of ESOL Plus Mandation funding.

Mr Marcus Jones: DCLG provides £8 million funding for the community-based English language programme that supports six projects delivering English courses to adults with the lowest levels of English – with the aim of supporting integrated communities. Delivery is over three years (2013-16) and will reach over 33,500 adults - largely Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Somali women. In addition, jobseekers on work-related benefits with poor spoken English can continue to access fully funded English Language training through BIS's Adult Skills Budget.

Homelessness: West Midlands

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what review his Department has conducted of homelessness in the West Midlands; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Marcus Jones: One homeless family is one too many. We have provided more than £500 million to local authorities to prevent homelessness since 2010, which has resulted in 935,800 households, including 121,400 in the West Midlands region, being prevented from becoming homeless. The Department will continue to work with local authorities and the voluntary sector to tackle homelessness.

Parking: Fees and Charges

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the legality of private car park companies charging for overstaying.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Government recently published a discussion paper about parking on private land entitled “Parking reform: tackling unfair practices”. The issue of companies charging for overstaying was raised in a significant number of responses. My Department is considering all of the circumstances surrounding overstay charges. We will publish a response to the discussion paper in due course setting out the Government’s proposed course of action.

Bed and Breakfast Accommodation: Young People

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many (a) 16 to 24 year old and (b) 25 to 30 year old homeless people have been temporarily housed in bed and breakfast accommodation by their local authority in each of the last five years.

Mr Marcus Jones: The only age related information held for those in temporary accommodation is for households headed by 16 or 17 year olds. Figures for such households temporarily housed in bed and breakfast accommodation as at 31March for the last five years are as follows;2011- 1602012 - 1502013 - 1002014 - 602015 - 50

HM Treasury

Crown Estate Commissioners

Paul Flynn: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the total amount received by the Treasury in profit from the Crown Estate was in each of the last five years.

Damian Hinds: The information requested can be obtained from the Crown Estate’s annual report and accounts which are available on their website at the following link:http://www.thecrownestate.co.uk/our-business/financial-information/

Students: Self-employed

Nusrat Ghani: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential benefits of removing the obligation to register as self-employed for students in full-time education earning less than the standard personal allowance.

Nusrat Ghani: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the cost to HM Revenue and Customs of administering and enforcing self-employed registration for students in full-time education earning less than the Personal Allowance.

Mr David Gauke: The information is not available. HM Revenue and Customs does not routinely record whether a student is in full time education.

Low Incomes

Steve Rotheram: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will estimate the number of people who are earning below the lower earnings limit and have more than one employer and do not qualify for national insurance contribution deductions.

Mr David Gauke: Estimates of the number of individuals who work in more than one job but do not pay national insurance, even though their total earnings are above the lower earnings threshold, are available to view at the following internet address:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-pension-coverage-lower-earnings-limit-and-multiple-jobs

Environment Protection: North of England

Dan Jarvis: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to encourage investment in improvement of the environment as part of the Northern Powerhouse initiative.

Greg Hands: The Chancellor will set out the next steps in his plans for the Northern Powerhouse and investment in the environment in the combined Autumn Statement and Spending Review on 25 November.

Welfare Tax Credits: Northern Ireland

Mr Nigel Dodds: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on tax credits since 25 October.

Damian Hinds: Treasury Ministers have regular discussions with Ministers of the devolved administrations and with politicians of all parties on a range of topics.

Fuels: Tax Evasion

Mr Nigel Dodds: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his estimate is of revenue lost to the Exchequer through fuel laundering in Northern Ireland in each year since 2010.

Damian Hinds: Estimates of total revenue losses associated with fuel fraud in Northern Ireland are published in chapter 5 of ‘Measuring Tax Gaps 2015'. These estimates cannot be disaggregated by type of fraud such as smuggling or laundering.https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/measuring-tax-gaps

Revenue and Customs: West Yorkshire

Imran Hussain: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many HM Revenue and Customs jobs in (a) Bradford and (b) West Yorkshire will be lost as a result of the proposed restructuring plan.

Mr David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) restructuring plans will mean it is even more effective in raising the taxes on which public services depend.HMRC has around 3,774 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) jobs in the Yorkshire and the Humber Region. The intention to consolidate HMRC operations across Yorkshire and the Humber into a single regional centre in Leeds accommodating between 4,100 and 4,400 FTE, by 2021, is expected to result in an overall increase in jobs in the region.In offices which will close and are outside reasonable travel distance of Leeds, HMRC employees will have the opportunity to discuss their personal circumstances in one-to-one meetings with their manager. Until then HMRC cannot be certain of the number staff who are unable to move to a Regional Centre.More details on the number of people relocating from individual offices, including Bradford, Leeds and Shipley, will be known when lines of business have finalised their plans and individuals have had the opportunity to discuss their personal circumstances in one-to-one meetings with their manager.HMRC will look at redeployment opportunities for people who are unable to move, helping and supporting them to find another role, possibly in other government departments.

Roads: Repairs and Maintenance

Daniel Zeichner: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will hypothecate revenue generated from Vehicle Excise Duty to local roads maintenance from 2017.

Greg Hands: All revenue generated through English VED from 2020-21 onwards will be used to fund the English strategic road network. This will ensure the Government can issue a second Roads investment Strategy for the period 2020-25, to follow the first strategy published at Autumn Statement 2014. Investment in our local road network will be set out as part of the Spending Review.In the period before 2020-21, VED revenues will continue to go to the Consolidated Fund which support general expenditure on public services including spending on local roads.

Local Government: Urban Areas

John Pugh: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the cost is to the Exchequer of the City Deals in each city region to date.

John Pugh: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the cost to the Exchequer is of the City Deals in each city region to date.

Greg Hands: The Government has agreed mayoral devolution agreements worth £30m a year for 30 years with combined authorities in Greater Manchester, Sheffield City Region, The North East, and Liverpool City Region. The Government has also agreed a mayoral devolution agreement worth £15m a year for 30 years with Tees Valley and an agreement worth £36.5m a year in the West Midlands. These are all subject to 5-yearly gateway assessments to confirm the investment has contributed to growth.These agreements are another significant step in the Government’s ambition for the Northern Powerhouse and Midlands Engine respectively.

Welfare Tax Credits

Mr Douglas Carswell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of households with dependents under the age of 18 that will be affected by the draft Tax Credits (Income Thresholds and Determination of Rates) (Amendment) Regulations 2015.

Damian Hinds: This information is not available.This Government is committed to moving from a high welfare, high tax, low wage economy to a lower welfare, lower tax, higher wage society. As the Chancellor has made clear, the Government will set out at Autumn Statement how we plan to achieve the same goal of reforming tax credits, saving the money we need to save to secure our economy, while at the same time helping in the transition.

Public Finance

Mr Douglas Carswell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what account his Department took when preparing the Charter for Budget Responsibility, of the effect of (a) the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union and (b) future EU treaty change in respect of that Treaty.

Harriett Baldwin: The UK is not a signatory of the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union, which is also known as the ‘Fiscal Compact.’ The signatories of the Fiscal Compact have committed to incorporate it into the main EU treaties, within five years of it entering into force. However, it would be premature to speculate on the conclusions of future treaty change negotiations in respect of the Fiscal Compact, which will require unanimous agreement amongst all other Member States, including the UK.However, the UK does participate in the EU’s Stability and Growth Pact, which sets rules on Member States’ debt and deficits, although, unlike other Member States the UK cannot face any sanction under this process.The updated Charter for Budget Responsibility, which sets out the government’s fiscal and debt management objectives and the fiscal mandate, states the government must explain in each Budget Report how all significant fiscal policy measures introduced by the government since the last Budget maintain the path of the public finances in a position consistent with the government’s European commitments.

Wholesale Trade: Alcoholic Drinks

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the provisions of the Finance Act 2015 relating to penalties for late registration for the Alcohol Wholesaler Registration scheme will apply now implementation of that scheme has been delayed.

Damian Hinds: The new penalties for late application for registration for the Alcohol Wholesaler Registration scheme will still apply. However, HMRC will only issue penalties in circumstances where the revised deadlines for application for registration have been breached.

Wholesale Trade: Alcoholic Drinks

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information  has been provided to businesses to ensure that they are aware of their obligations under the Alcohol Wholesaler Registration scheme.

Damian Hinds: Guidance explaining the obligations of the scheme and who it applies to, the timeline for implementation and what businesses will need to do to prepare, is available on the Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme web-page on Gov.UK. Available at:  https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-alcohol-wholesaler-registration-scheme-awrs  HMRC has consulted with industry on a detailed public notice for the scheme and intend to publish the final version by 1 December. HMRC has also made available to industry an information pack that explains all the key features of the new scheme. Further publicity is also planned in the coming months to enhance industry awareness of the new scheme.

Revenue and Customs: Job Creation

Greg Mulholland: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many jobs will be created at each of the 13 new HM Revenue and Customs regional centres by 2021.

Greg Mulholland: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many jobs will be lost at each of the 137 HM Revenue and Customs local offices to be closed by 2027.

Mr David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) announcements about the move to regional centres focus on where it will deliver its business from in the future. HMRC expects that most of its current staff will be able to travel to one of the new sites. HMRC has quoted the expected sizes of its regional centres. The smallest will hold 1,200 to 1,300 full-time equivalent (FTE) members of staff and the largest will hold more than 6,000. More details will be available when final staffing levels are agreed.The plans are part of HMRC’s long-term transformation into a smaller, more highly-skilled operation offering modern, digital services.The number of people relocating from individual offices will be known when lines of business have finalised their plans and individuals have had the opportunity to discuss their personal circumstances in one-to-one meetings with their manager.Overall, HMRC has planned on the basis that it is likely to have about 50,000 FTE posts by 2021.

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Housing: Heating

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps she is taking to ensure homes are adequately heated over the winter and protect against deaths due to the cold weather.

Andrea Leadsom: We are supporting older and vulnerable people to keep warm through support including the Energy Company Obligation and the Warm Home Discount. Over 1.6 million measures have been installed in around 1.3 million households through the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) alone.This year, over 2 million households will get help under the Warm Home Discount scheme– including an automatic electricity bill discount of £140 for over 1.3 million of the poorest pensioners. In winter 2014/15, Winter Fuel Payments were made to around 12.5million older people in around 9 million households. The Cold Weather Plan, published by Public Health England, helps to raise awareness of the harm to health from cold, and provides guidance on how to prepare for and respond to cold weather.The Government has also provided around £3 million to fund the creation of the ‘Big Energy Saving Network’ which focuses on helping consumers understand tariffs and switching options as well as how they could benefit from energy efficiency programmes available to them. As we approach winter, my officials will continue to maximise awareness of the Energy Saving Advice Service (ESAS –contact number 0300 123 1234), which also provides a referral service for ECO Affordable Warmth.

Energy: Meters

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what proportion of in-home displays need to remain in operation after installation for the smart metering implementation programme to have the potential to deliver overall economic benefit for customers and energy providers.

Andrea Leadsom: We are supporting older and vulnerable people to keep warm through support including the Energy Company Obligation and the Warm Home Discount. Over 1.6 million measures have been installed in around 1.3 million households through the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) alone.This year, over 2 million households will get help under the Warm Home Discount scheme– including an automatic electricity bill discount of £140 for over 1.3 million of the poorest pensioners. In winter 2014/15, Winter Fuel Payments were made to around 12.5million older people in around 9 million households. The Cold Weather Plan, published by Public Health England, helps to raise awareness of the harm to health from cold, and provides guidance on how to prepare for and respond to cold weather.The Government has also provided around £3 million to fund the creation of the ‘Big Energy Saving Network’ which focuses on helping consumers understand tariffs and switching options as well as how they could benefit from energy efficiency programmes available to them. As we approach winter, DECC officials will continue to maximise awareness of the Energy Saving Advice Service (ESAS –contact number 0300 123 1234), which also provides a referral service for ECO Affordable Warmth.

Hinkley Point C Power Station

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will specify the comparable operators whose costs would be taken into account prior to the Opex reopeners for the contract for difference relating to Hinkley Point C power station being triggered 15 and 25 years after the first reactor start date.

Andrea Leadsom: The terms of the Hinkley Point C Contract for difference (HPC CfD) will set out the mechanism for the Opex reopeners. If my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State decides to direct the Low Carbon Contracts Company Ltd to offer a CfD to HPC, the terms will be published (with commercially sensitive information removed) once it has been entered in to by the parties. The detailed terms of the HPC CfD are commercially sensitive at this time.

Hinkley Point C Power Station

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what circumstances would constitute a political shutdown of the proposed Hinkley Point C power station by the EU or international competent authority which would trigger a payment to the operators of that power station.

Andrea Leadsom: As explained in DECC’s Departmental Minute of 21 October, a political shut down would be an action by a UK, EU or international Competent Authority which shutdown, or prevented the completion of, Hinkley Point C (HPC) – except where this action is done on grounds of protecting health, nuclear safety, security, environmental, nuclear transport or nuclear safeguards related matters. If my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State decides to direct the Low Carbon Contracts Company Ltd to offer a Contract for Difference to HPC, the terms of the contract will be published (with commercially sensitive information removed) once it has been entered in to by the parties.

Hinkley Point C Power Station: Finance

Dr Tania Mathias: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether the agreement signed with China to fund Hinckley Point C nuclear reactor includes funding from China for (a) decommissioning costs and (b) emergency clean-up costs.

Andrea Leadsom: Holding answer received on 20 November 2015



The basis on which Chinese companies will invest in the Hinkley Point C project is set out in the strategic investor agreement agreed between EDF and CGN in October. The terms of this agreement are a matter for EDF.Operators of new nuclear power stations are required to have a Funded Decommissioning Programme (FDP) approved by the Secretary of State before nuclear related construction can begin. The FDP sets out how a new nuclear operator will make secure financial provision for decommissioning their power station and managing and disposing of its waste without recourse to the taxpayer.Operators of nuclear power stations are also required to put in place insurance or other financial security to meet their nuclear third party liabilities.

Department of Energy and Climate Change: Public Expenditure

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what her Department's expected underspend is against departmental expenditure limits in the current fiscal year; and what her Department's latest forecast of total AME spend is for this year compared to forecasts at the time of the (a) Summer Budget 2015 and (b) March Budget 2015.

Andrea Leadsom: Holding answer received on 20 November 2015



The Department does not publish full-year forecast for departmental expenditure limits (DEL) spending. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast underspends in DEL as part of their Economic and Fiscal Outlook which is due to be published on 25th November alongside the Autumn Statement. Outturn data will be published in the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts planned for publication by the end of June, before Summer recess.The forecast of total Annually Managed Expenditure spend for 2015-16 as at March Budget 2015 and Summer Budget 2015 is shown in DECC's Main Estimate; forecasts are currently being updated for the Supplementary Estimate which is due to be published in February:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/441360/PU_1815_Main_Estimates_book_WEB.pdf.

Renewable Energy

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what progress her Department has made towards its renewable energy target for 2020; and if she will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave the Hon. Member for Greenwich and Woolwich on 6 July 2015 to Question 4832:http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2015-06-30/4832/

Northern Ireland Office

Schools: Northern Ireland

Danny Kinahan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what proportion of the funding of £500 million for shared schooling in Northern Ireland is expected to come from her Department's budget.

Mr Ben Wallace: In the ‘Stormont House Agreement’ signed on 23 December 2014, the UK Government agreed a contribution of up to £500m over 10 years of new capital funding to support shared and integrated education, subject to individual projects being agreed between the Executive and the UK Government.In the recent ‘A Fresh Start: the Stormont Agreement and Implementation Plan’ the UK Government agreed a number of further flexibilities to the funding commitments contained in the ‘Stormont House Agreement’ including that capital funding for shared and integrated education can be used to support shared housing projects, with individual projects to be agreed by the UK Government.This funding to the Northern Ireland Executive will come from Her Majesty’s Treasury through the Northern Ireland Office.

Department of Health

Pneumococcal Disease

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people were diagnosed with pneumococcal pneumonia in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison: The information is not available in the format requested. Relevant information, as is available for England, is shown in the table.YearFinished Admission Episodes2009-102,4522010-112,5352011-122,1622012-132,2072013-142,297Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information CentreNotes:Data available is a count of finished admission episodes (FAEs) where there was a primary diagnosis of Pneumonia due to Streptococcus pneumoniae for the years 2009-10 to 2013-14.An FAE is the first period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FAEs are counted against the year or month in which the admission episode finishes. The data do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the period.Data represents activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector. Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) include activity ending in the year in question. The year runs from April to March, e.g. 2012-13 includes activity ending between 1 April 2012 and 31st March 2013.

Pregnant Women: Alcoholic Drinks

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will promulgate official advice to pregnant women not to drink alcohol.

Jane Ellison: The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) is overseeing a United Kingdom-wide review of all alcohol guidelines so that people can make informed choices about their drinking at all stages of their lives.The Guidelines Development Group, a group of independent experts, was tasked with developing lower-risk drinking guidelines for the UK CMOs to consider, including UK wide guidance for alcohol and pregnancy. We will be consulting on these shortly.

Eyesight: Surgery

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to monitor and control eye surgery.

Alistair Burt: There are currently no plans to bring forward new legislative proposals for regulating refractive laser eye surgery.Providers of laser eye surgery are required to register with the Care Quality Commission (CQC), as this is a regulated activity. All providers of regulated activities under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 must be registered with the CQC and meet the new fundamental standards of safety and quality that came onto force on 1 April this year. The CQC has a range of enforcement actions that it can take if providers do not meet the fundamental standards.Doctors performing laser eye surgery in the United Kingdom must also be registered with the General Medical Council (GMC). All registered doctors are expected to be familiar with the GMC’s publication Good medical practice and supporting guidance, which describes what is expected of them. This document makes clear that medical doctors must recognise and work within the limits of their competenceFurther work is underway to improve the delivery, safety and standards for patient information regarding these procedures and this is being led by the Royal College of Ophthalmologists.

Eyesight: Surgery

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people have had corrective laser eye surgery in each of the last five years.

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people have had (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful laser eye surgery in each of the last five years.

Alistair Burt: Corrective laser eye surgery (surgery to correct a refractive error) is not routinely carried out on the National Health Service other than for exceptional clinical reasons. Refractive errors can be successful corrected with glasses or contact lenses. Data is not collected on the number of corrective laser eye surgery procedures carried out in the independent sector or on the number of successful or unsuccessful procedures.The following table, provided by the Health and Social Care Information Centre, shows a count of Finished Admission Episodes (FAEs) for those diagnosed with disorders of refraction and accommodation who underwent corrective laser eye surgery between 2009-10 to 2013-14. This data includes a range of laser eye surgery procedures and is therefore not exclusive to corrective laser eye surgery.Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sectorYearFAEs2009-103182010-112412011-122762012-131762013-14195Source:Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre

Babies: Safety

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to raise awareness of the risks of parents sharing a bed with their baby.

Jane Ellison: The National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) published updated guidelines on co-sleeping in December 2014. The guideline advises health professionals to discuss co-sleeping (which can be intentional or unintentional) with parents and carers and inform them that there is an association between co-sleeping (parents or carers sleeping on a bed or sofa or chair with an infant) and Sudden Infant Death.As part of the Healthy Child Programme, which is provided for all children and their families, health visitors provide information on the risk of sudden infant death including advice on sleeping positions, co-sleeping and room temperature.Comprehensive advice for parents is also available on the NHS Choices website.

Diabetes

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will review NHS diabetes dietary guidelines.

Jane Ellison: Current dietary advice to people who have diabetes is the same as for the general population - that they should enjoy a healthy, balanced diet based on the eatwell plate, the national healthy eating guide.In July 2015, the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) published its report on Carbohydrates and Health, a review of the latest evidence on dietary carbohydrates and health. SACN recommended reducing sugar consumption, increasing fibre consumption and minimising consumption of sugars-sweetened drinks.Following publication, advice on what constitutes a healthy, balanced diet was updated to reflect the Government’s acceptance of SACN’s recommendations. As part of this Public Health England is undertaking a review of the eatwell plate and the refreshed resource will be launched in early 2016.

Diabetes

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) adults and (b) children undertake appropriate health checks to prevent diabetes complications.

Jane Ellison: Public Health England (PHE) supports local authorities to implement the mandated NHS Health Checks programme. A routine part of NHS Health Checks involves assessing a person’s risk of type 2 diabetes and, for those at risk a diagnostic test is carried out for confirmation of diabetes.The NHS Diabetic Eye Screening Programme aims to reduce the risk of sight loss among people with diabetes through early detection and timely treatment, if needed, of diabetic retinopathy.The Healthy Child Programme ‘Pregnancy and the first five years of life’ provides five core reviews for all pregnant women and young children and provide a framework for health promoting and primary prevention activities around behaviours such as breast feeding, healthy nutrition, physical activity and healthy weight which will influence a child’s future health including onset of obesity and type 2 diabetes. The reviews are followed up with early intervention and targeted support for families where additional needs have been identified. The Healthy Child Programme ‘0-19’ provides advice and guidance including healthy weight management, nutrition, physical activity and support children with additional health needs including diabetes.Improving outcomes for those with diabetes is of great concern to the Government. We will announce our plans in due course.

Chiropody

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) an appropriate number of podiatrists work in the NHS and (b) such podiatrists are appropriately trained.

Alistair Burt: It is the responsibility of Health Education England (HEE) to ensure that the healthcare workforce has the right skills, behaviours and training, and is available in the right numbers to support the delivery of health care and health improvement.HEE’s workforce plan is based on the needs of Local Education and Training Boards, which are responsible for working with local providers and clinical commissioning groups, to determine the future requirements of the workforce reflecting local patient need. The workforce investment plans are reviewed by the HEE Allied Health Professions (AHP) Advisory Group, which is chaired by NHS England’s Chief AHP Officer and has representation from the AHP professional bodies including the Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists. For 2015/16, HEE commissioned 362 training places for podiatrists.HEE is committed to working with stakeholders to influence training curricula and ensure that the NHS workforce can provide the highest standards of care. This includes ensuring that podiatrists receive appropriate pre-registration training and then through Continuing Professional Development to broaden their knowledge, expertise and competence, in line with the latest evidence-based clinical practice.

Heart Diseases: Medical Treatments

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans for 3D heart imaging to identify blocked arteries to be available on the NHS.

Jane Ellison: Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), which provides three dimensional imaging, is currently available within the National Health Service in England.

Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what educational and health programmes are (a) in place and (b) planned to reduce the incidence of sexually transmitted disease.

Jane Ellison: Public Health England (PHE) supports local prevention initiatives through the provision of guidance, evidence and data. PHE supports the National Chlamydia Screening Programme which provides testing for chlamydia to all young people aged 15-24 annually. PHE commissions a number of national human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention activities and specialised sexual health information resources to provide educational and health resources to reduce the incidence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV.STI prevention programmes are the responsibility of local authorities, and there are a wide variety of local educational and health initiatives underway across England. Local authorities are mandated to provide genitourinary medicine services for the early diagnosis and treatment of STIs.Further, last week I launched the £500,000 HIV prevention innovation fund and our first National HIV Home Sampling service which aims to deliver up to 50,000 postal testing kits.

Care Homes: Training

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what mandatory requirements are in place to ensure that care home staff are well trained.

Alistair Burt: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care providers in England. Under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 all providers of regulated activities have to register with the CQC and follow a set of fundamental standards of safety and quality below which care should never fall.The Fundamental Standards include a regulation on staffing which ensures that suitably qualified, competent, skilled persons must be deployed. This regulation also ensures that the person employed receives the appropriate training, professional development and have the opportunity to obtain further qualifications appropriate to the work they perform.CQC inspections ensure that providers are meeting these Fundamental Standards and have a wide range of enforcement powers if a provider fails to meet them.

Pain

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people were diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison: The information requested is not collected.

Diabetes

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will commission an independent five-year review of provision for diabetes.

Jane Ellison: There are no current plans to commission an independent five-year review of provision of diabetes. However, The management of adult diabetes services in the NHS: progress review, published by the National Audit Office on 21 October 2015, provides a review of the progress made by the National Health Service since 2012 on improving services and achieving better outcomes for people with diabetes:https://www.nao.org.uk/press-releases/the-management-of-adult-diabetes-services-in-the-nhs-progress-review/

Diabetes

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will commission structural education courses to prevent diabetes, in line with NICE guidance.

Jane Ellison: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Quality Standard for diabetes and guidance support the use of structured education for people diagnosed with diabetes to help them manage their condition.The National Diabetes Prevention Programme (DPP) is a joint commitment from NHS England, Public Health England and Diabetes UK and will be the first national Type 2 diabetes prevention programme delivered at scale. People identified as being at high risk of diabetes will be referred onto intensive lifestyle management programmes which will support them to lose weight, improve their diet and be more physically active.The DPP will link into the existing NHS Health Check programme, which invites adults between the ages of 40 and 74 for risk awareness, assessment and management of the key risk factors leading to premature death and disability in England.Building on the DDP, the Department has committed to improving outcomes for those with, and at risk of, diabetes. We will announce our plans shortly.

Wheelchairs

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Answer of 9 January 2015 to Question 219449, what progress has been made in improving wheelchair services following the NHS England review.

Alistair Burt: Following the conclusion of its review NHS England has set up an improvement support programme working with 11 clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to improve services for wheelchair users. The 11 CCGs are:- North Yorkshire (NHS Harrogate and Rural District;- NHS Hambleton, Richmondshire and Whitby;- NHS Scarborough and Ryedale;- NHS Vale of York CCG;- North West London (NHS West London);- NHS Hounslow;- NHS Ealing;- NHS Central London;- NHS Hammersmith and Fulham;- NHS Barnet; and- NHS Brent.NHS Improving Quality is supporting the programme which will run from September 2015 to March 2016 and include creating guidance, evidence and material to share with other organisations and communities.NHS England has also introduced a new national wheelchair dataset with the aim of providing information centrally on the volume, expenditure, access to, and patient experience about wheelchair services to enable transparency and benchmarking. From July 2015, data are being collected quarterly from CCGs.

Neuromuscular Disorders: Sheffield Heeley

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he plans to take to ensure that people with rare neuromuscular conditions in Sheffield, Heeley constituency have access to the appropriate wheelchair for their condition.

Alistair Burt: Clinical commissioning groups are responsible for commissioning wheelchair services.NHS England advises that it is supporting improvements in wheelchair services to ensure wheelchair users and their families can lead full, independent and active lives. This work involves establishing a new national wheelchair data collection to drive improvement, piloting a tariff for wheelchairs and supporting improvements in the commissioning of services.

Health Services: English Language

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department has taken to enable people with limited English to access healthcare services.

Alistair Burt: The provision of language support, including interpretation and translation, is driven by the requirement for all National Health Service organisations to comply with the public sector equality duty in the Equality Act 2010. The provision of such services by NHS bodies is a matter for local determination based on the composition of the communities they serve, and the needs and circumstances of their patients, service users and local populations.

NHS: Negligence

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of fixing recoverable costs in medical negligence cases to a maximum of £250,000 on a claimant's ability to pursue a case.

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of fixing recoverable costs in medical negligence cases to a maximum of £250,000 on the accountability of the NHS to the public.

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether reducing incidents of negligent care will be the primary focus of the Government's proposed package of reforms aimed at reducing costs in medical negligence litigation.

Ben Gummer: Over the past 10 years claimant legal costs as a percentage of damages paid by the National Health Service have increased from 32% to 52%. We believe that claimant legal costs are disproportionate to the value of the damages paid, sometimes representing up to 299% for lower value claims, and disproportionate to the defendant costs. Ultimately this all comes out money for front line services. The proposal for fixed recoverable cost in lower value clinical negligence claims was suggested by Lord Justice Jackson in his report Reform of Civil Litigation Funding and Costs in England and Wales.The Department is working closely with partners and interested parties to develop a proposal to introduce fixed recoverable costs for clinical negligence claims. The Department’s proposal in the consultation is a maximum threshold level of £250,000, based on Lord Justice Jackson’s original proposal and with a view to covering at least 80% of all claims. We welcome views on the proposal from all sectors. The results of a pre-consultation exercise with a number of key stakeholders, including representatives of claimant lawyers, and the consultation documentation, including the Impact Assessment, will be published early 2016 subject to relevant Committee clearances.The level of potential savings will ultimately depend upon the final maximum threshold level proposed. By making legal costs proportionate to the damages paid we would hope to save circa £80 million per annum. The Department is also working with various clinical groups looking at how the current level of incidents can be reduced. In terms of maternity our target to reduce avoidable harm by 50% and save 6,000 lives.The Department sees the fixed recoverable cost work as part of an overall strategic approach aimed at improving patient safety, improving customer care and improving litigation. Improving patient safety and reducing the incidents of harm is a key element of this.

NHS: Negligence

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of medical negligence cases which may be affected by the Government's proposals to introduce fixed recoverable costs in cases worth up to (a) £10,000, (b) £25,000, (c) £50,000, (d) £100,000 and (e) £250,000; and what the average saving he hopes to secure at each level is.

Ben Gummer: NHS Litigation Authority data shows that the number of medical negligence cases which may be affected by the Government's proposals to introduce fixed recoverable costs is as follows:In cases worth up to £25,000 there are 12,831 cases, up to £50,000 there are 17,971 cases, up to £100,000 there are 24,519 cases, and up to £250,000 there are 29,334 cases; the average saving will depend on any final arrangements agreed.Information related to cases worth up to £10,000 is not held in the format requested.

Pharmacy

Alex Chalk: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will promote the development of a pharmacist-led common ailments service to reduce winter pressures on A&E departments and GP practices.

Alistair Burt: Minor ailment schemes are commissioned locally by NHS England and clinical commissioning groups in many parts of England to meet local need. As part of its urgent and emergency care strategy, NHS England has run campaigns for the last two winters to encourage wider use of community pharmacies to treat coughs and colds. This year’s campaign Stay Well This Winter, launched on 2 November, directs people to their local pharmacy to seek advice on common ailments and advises people who feel unwell to get help from their pharmacy team quickly before it gets more serious.

Mental Health Services: Finance

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what level of funding his Department has provided for mental health services in (a) Liverpool, Walton constituency, (b) Merseyside and (c) England in the last three years.

Alistair Burt: NHS England does not split the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) programme allocation across service categories. CCGs receive an annual allocation calculated by reference to the size of population they commission for, and it is up to the CCG to decide how to spend it, taking into account national policy considerations and a local assessment of need.CCGs are required to submit their spending plans and their annual accounts to NHS England. NHS England reviews spending, including for mental health (MH), through the CCG assurance process.NHS England has made a requirement of clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in the planning guidance for 2015/16, The Forward View Into Action: Planning Guidance for 2015/16, that each CCG’s spending on MH services in 2015/16 should increase in real terms, and grow by at least as much as each CCG’s overall funding allocation increase.CCG actual and planned spend (not funding) can be split between MH and other categories of expenditure. The table below shows CCG MH spend for Liverpool CCG, for Merseyside CCGs and nationally for all CCGs. These figures are actual spend for 2013/14 and 2014/15 and planned spend for 2015/16:2013/14Outturn £k2014/15Outturn£k2015/16Outturn£kLiverpool CCG Total76,33585,50089,609Merseyside CCGTotal181,521209,004217,948EnglandCCGsTotal7,818,9248,289,1538,602,990Specialised health services, primary care and other directly commissioned services includes some spend on MH services. This direct commissioning spend on MH services is not routinely split into the different categories of expenditure and is not included in the figures in the table above.

Doctors

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many doctors have requested a certificate of current professional status in 2015.

Ben Gummer: The information requested is not held centrally. The General Medical Council reports that between 1 January and 16 November 2015 it issued certificates of current professional status to 8,026 doctors.

In Vitro Fertilisation

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to implement the Infertility Network UK recommendations on access to IVF treatment.

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many clinical commissioning groups implement in full the Infertility Network UK recommendations on access to IVF treatment.

Jane Ellison: The Department funded Infertility Network UK (INUK) to develop advice to NHS Commissioners on standardising eligibility criteria for in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment. The Department has consistently encouraged NHS Commissioners to have regard to this advice. The INUK advice is listed as a resource for clinical commissioning groups (CCG) in the NHS England “Commissioning Fertility Services Factsheet”.National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines recommend that eligible couples should receive three full cycles of IVF treatment. The Government has made clear that blanket restrictions on treatment are unacceptable and all decisions on treatment should be made by doctors based on a patient’s individual clinical needs and in line with NICE Guidelines.While we have not made an assessment of access to IVF treatment, we are aware of the annual survey by Fertility Fairness. I have written to stakeholders, including Fertility Fairness, and invited them to discuss what could be done to improve the provision of IVF services along with representatives of NHS England and Monitor.

Ambulance Services: Radiation Exposure

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had about a national job profile for Hazardous Area Response Team paramedics.

Jane Ellison: Local lead Clinical Commissioning Group commissioners contract with providers to deliver a Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) service compliant with the national specification. Banding and pay arrangements are not specified within the national HART service specification. NHS England, as advised by the National Ambulance Resilience Unit deems this to be a matter for employing trusts and their lead commissioners.

Pharmacy

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the number and accessibility of pharmacy facilities; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: There were 11,674 community pharmacies in England at 31 March 2015. 95% of the population is within a 20 minute walk of a community pharmacy, with access greatest in the most deprived areas. It is not for the Department to determine or advise on how health and social care providers, including pharmacies, comply with equalities legislation. It is up to each pharmacy owner to ensure their pharmacy premises comply with the Equality Act 2010.

Day Centres: Learning Disability

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many complaints about day centres for adults with learning disabilities his Department has received since the establishment of the Care Quality Commission.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of adults with learning disabilities using day centres which are not regulated by the Care Quality Commission.

Alistair Burt: The Department does not collect information about the number of complaints received or the number of adults with learning disabilities using day centres. Day centres are not regulated by the Care Quality Commission.

Day Centres: Regulation

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he plans to extend the remit of the Care Quality Commission to include the regulation of all day centres; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Gummer: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England. Under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 all providers of regulated activities, have to register with CQC and meet a set of fundamental standards of safety and quality below which care should never fall.The Department is responsible for setting in legislation both the scope of registration and the fundamental standards that registered providers must meet. These are set out in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.The scope of registration is proportionate to risk and based on the activity being carried out rather than the setting. Day centres that carry on a regulated activity are required to register with CQC and to meet the fundamental standards. In most instances they will be registered to provide the regulated activity of personal care.The Department keeps the regulated activities under review to ensure that regulation by CQC is focused on those areas where the risks to service users are greatest. The Department has no current plans to require all providers of day centres to register with CQC.

Midwives: Students

Maria Caulfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the total population of student midwives in England was in the latest year for which figures are available.

Ben Gummer: The latest available information provided by Health Education England shows that there were 6,624 student midwives in training in England at 31 March 2015.

Midwives: Training

Maria Caulfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the total cost was to his Department of training student midwives in each of the last 10 years.

Ben Gummer: Information prior to 2013/14 is not held centrally by the Department.Detailed below is an estimate of planned expenditure costs to Health Education England of providing training to student midwives since 2013/14.YearNew Students CommissionedPlanned Students in trainingEstimate Cost (million)2013/142,5636,874£102.2m2014/152,6036,624£120.8m2015/162,6177,058£130.6mSource: multi professional education and training budget monitoring returns

Prisoners: Gambling

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will estimate the number of people in prison (a) as a result of and (b) with a gambling addiction.

Ben Gummer: This information is not available centrally.

Blood: Contamination

Ms Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 22 October 2015 to Question 11834 to the hon. Member for Salford and Eccles, on what date he plans to announce the consultation on reform of the scheme for support for people affected by contaminated blood products.

Jane Ellison: The Department is currently awaiting the conclusion of the Spending Review and so we cannot provide a date for the full consultation at this time. However, it remains a priority and will be publicly announced.The consultation will allow individuals who are affected by this tragedy the opportunity to express their views on what support they would value in a reformed scheme. The details of the consultation will be published on the Government’s website, including details of how those who are interested can respond.

Health Services: Reciprocal Arrangements

Dr Tania Mathias: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has taken steps to recover costs to the NHS resulting from the actions of Hungarian journalist Ani Horvath as part of an investigation of fraud in the European Health Insurance Cards scheme.

Ben Gummer: The Department is undertaking a major piece of work to examine and identify areas for improvement in all the administrative systems relating to European Economic Area healthcare payments (incoming and outgoing), including the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) scheme.If an EHIC is used fraudulently, the Department will seek to recover the full cost of treatment from the card holder.The Department takes any allegations of fraud and abuse seriously and has been working with the NHS on an on-going basis to detect and tackle any suspected fraud and error since the introduction of the online EHIC application system in 2006.

Drugs: Marketing

Nick Thomas-Symonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for which drugs he is the marketing authorisation holder; and under what circumstances he became the marketing authorisation holder for each such drug.

George Freeman: The Secretary of State currently holds a market authorisation for one drug, Healthy Start Children’s Vitamins Drops.This product was originally granted a licence in 1972 as licence of right. The reasons for this likely stem from the need to ensure supply of this product when a commercial supply of a similar product could not be procured.

Hospitals: Infectious Diseases

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many cases of infection in NHS hospitals have been attributed to antibiotic resistant infections in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Gummer: Public Health England (PHE) collects data only on key pathogens and antimicrobials identified from positive blood specimens reported through hospital laboratories and infection control teams. Data is not collected in a format that allows attribution of antibiotic resistance to all cases of infection in National Health Service hospitals. It is therefore not possible to determine a total number of infections attributed to antibiotic resistance in each of the last five years. PHE is working, with partner organisations, to address antimicrobial resistance through the implementation of the UK Five Year Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy.

Antibiotics: Research

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what financial support his Department has provided for research into antibiotic resistance in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

George Freeman: The information requested is not available. The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and the Department’s Policy Research Programme (PRP). Spend on research funded directly by the NIHR is categorised by Health Research Classification System (HRCS) health categories. There are no HRCS health sub-categories, and no category or sub-category for antibiotic resistance.On 18 November 2015 the NIHR announced funding for 16 studies relating to antimicrobial resistance with an investment of over £15.8 million to date, with funding of further projects expected during 2015.

Drugs: Licensing

Nick Thomas-Symonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with NICE on conducting health technology appraisals for off-patent drugs that have been proven to be effective in new indications.

George Freeman: My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has had no discussions with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) on the subject of technology appraisals for off-patent drugs in new indications. NICE does not routinely appraise drugs outside their licensed indications.NICE does, however, issue evidence summaries which summarise the published evidence for selected unlicensed or off-label medicines that are considered to be of significance to the NHS, where there are no clinically appropriate licensed alternatives. They support decision-making on the use of an unlicensed or off-label medicine for an individual patient, where there are good clinical reasons for its use, usually when there is no licensed medicine for the condition requiring treatment, or the licensed medicine is not appropriate for that individual. Examples of evidence summaries can be found at:http://www.nice.org.uk/advice?type=esuom

Antibiotics: Drug Resistance

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of NHS treatment measures to deal with antibiotic resistant infections; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Gummer: Patient safety is of primary importance to the National Health Service. An integral part of this focus on safety is work to prevent the spread of antimicrobial resistance and preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics that are currently effective against resistant infections.There is mandatory surveillance of resistant infections such as meticillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Clostridium difficile and E.coli within the NHS and data are published by Public Health England on a monthly basis. This transparency of data has ensured that NHS organisations are focused on minimising the number of resistant infections, and identifying and dealing with patients suffering from such resistant infections appropriately.The NHS has also implemented a Public Health England screening protocol to identify people suffering from carbapenem resistant infections so that adequate treatment measures can be implemented in a timely way. Carbapenems are a powerful group of broad spectrum (penicillin-related) antibiotics.The NHS vaccination programmes have also proved effective at tackling resistance through reducing the incidence of certain diseases. NHS England will continue to work with Public Health England to implement the national vaccination programmes successfully.In addition, to these existing measures, we are introducing a set of indicators which specifically focusses on resistant infections. These indicators will enable NHS organisations to identify their priorities concerning resistance and take appropriate local action. To support this we will highlight to NHS organisations key actions they can take. These include best practice on controlling levels of resistance and reducing levels of antimicrobial prescribing, and guidance on general infection prevention and control standards.

Drugs: Licensing

Nick Thomas-Symonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance his Department has provided for clinical commissioning groups on the commissioning of off-patent drugs for use in new indications.

Nick Thomas-Symonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with clinical commissioning groups on commissioning of off-patent drugs for use in new indications.

George Freeman: NHS England supports the national commissioning system in England, including the provision of guidance to the service, where appropriate.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) does not routinely appraise drugs outside their licensed indications. Where drugs are not appraised by NICE, it is the responsibility of clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to decide how drugs should be funded locally, in line with any guidance from NHS England. The Department has produced no guidance and had no discussions with CCGs on off-label drug use.Many thousands of patients benefit from the use of off-patent drugs, off-label, every day in the National Health Service. NICE publishes Evidence Summaries on unlicensed and off-label medicines. These provide a summary of the published evidence for selected unlicensed or off-label medicines that are considered to be of significance to the NHS, usually when there is no licensed medicine for the condition requiring treatment or no licensed medicines are appropriate for a significant proportion of people requiring treatment.

Gastrointestinal System

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many permanent gastroenterologist consultants were employed in the NHS in the last six years.

Ben Gummer: The following table shows the number of permanent gastroenterologist consultants employed in the National Health Service in England in the last six years. The figures are taken from the NHS hospital and community health services (HCHS) monthly workforce statistics, which are published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre.NHS HCHS Gastroenterology Consultants in Englandfull-time equivalentJuly 2010July 2011July 2012July 2013July 2014July 20157137978388829211, 005Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre, NHS HCHS monthly workforce statistics, July 2015

General Practitioners

Mr Douglas Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to increase the number of GPs; and what steps he is taking to ensure that employment terms and conditions for GPs encourage employment in areas with (a) an elderly demographic and (b) a high workload.

Alistair Burt: The Government has committed to increasing the primary and community care workforce by 10,000 by 2020, including an additional 5,000 doctors working in general practice. Health Education England, NHS England, the Royal College of General Practitioners (GPs) and the British Medical Association’s GP Committee are working together on a ten point GP workforce plan to boost recruitment, encourage experienced GPs to remain in the profession and support GPs to return to practice.GP partners are independent contractors rather than National Health Service employees. However, the funding that practices receive does take account of the age profile of its patients and practice workload.The Carr-Hill formula calculates the share of funding that each practice receives based on its weighted patient list size adjusted for several factors including age. NHS England is currently reviewing the formula and this is intended to adapt it to better reflect deprivation and other factors of the registered practice profile that impact on practice workload. Additionally, the changes to the GP contract for 2014/15 moved funding from the Quality and Outcomes Framework to core practice funding and a new Avoiding Unplanned Admissions enhanced service, which requires practices to proactively case manage vulnerable patients through developing personalised care plans, including identifying a named accountable GP and care coordinator.

Medical Records: Internet

Dr Tania Mathias: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when all NHS patients will be able to access their medical records online; and when the NHS will implement a secure unified email system.

George Freeman: From April 2015 patients have had online access to summary information in their general practitioner (GP) records relating to allergies, adverse reactions and medications. By the end of March 2016, general practices are required to offer online access to coded information, such as problem diagnoses, procedures and test results in GP clinical records.The National Health Service has used a secure email service, NHSmail, for the last 12 years. This service is available for use by organisations commissioned to deliver NHS health and care or related activities.